Yesterday I noticed about 20 baby koi swimming around in the lower pond at the store. I was shocked. We had just drained and cleaned that pond about a month ago. But it's very cool because in all the years, 11, we have only ever had two koi mature. So I am pumped about that.

Please visit my live web cam. www.justin.tv/gettysburgwatergardens. Within the next couple days, we will reach 2,000,000 views. WOW. I am shocked.

Here it is late September, and it's freaking hot. I hate it. I want to work on the new pond, but between my cold, and the heat, I'll be staying inside for the day. Even Matt is complaining about the heat. Tomorrow it is only supposed to be a high of 70. That will be a refreshing change.
A heron has been scoping out my pond at my house the last couple of nights. My cat alerted me to it two nights ago, it was on my roof. Last night at 1:00 am, the bird was standing beside the pond. Needless to say, he didn't stay there very long.
Don't forget to think about winterizing your water garden.

Cleaned a pond today, two hours of crawling in fish muck. yuck! At least it didn't rain on me.

We have started something new. Every Saturday, starting at 10am. EST, I will take questions live on www.justin.tv/gettysburgwatergardens, for one hour. Please feel free to stop in and talk, ask questions, and just have fun. Hope to see you there.

It has been an interesting summer so far. The heat has been unbearable. Business has been better than last year, which is good, but we still have a long way to go. The lack of rain doesn't help either. Today it is pouring. We need the rain badly. Tomorrow we will add a bottom drain to the large pond. It should help keep the debris from floating all over the place, which is very visible in the underwater cam. We would also like to do some other things around here, but the heat is making it impossible. Have a great day!

I hate it when days start out like this. Four people decided to bring merchandise BACK. That's not how it is supposed to work. Oh well, it's been a good day despite that. Today feels like a typical Spring day, in the sense that we have been unbelievably busy. The weather is hot, but not raining, and that brings them in. The girls are complaining that the day is going slowly, but it's almost 3, and I think the day has flown by. Only two more hours to go, then relaxation time.

Time to rest a bit

It seems our busiest part of the season is now over. The day to day operation must still be done. We clean algae, skimmers and filters, pull weeds, stock inventory, and keep the plants looking good. Some of the other things we have to do this time of year, is place the shade cloth over the greenhouses. It's a bit of a pain to do every year, but it keeps the greenhouses cooler. Unfortunately, we have to remove them in the fall. Leaving them on during the winter, won't let the snow slide off, which would be disastrous to the framework. Pulling weeds is a bit of a hassle, but a necessary chore during the season.

I'm very proud of my staff this year. My returning crew has made me very happy this year, by continually surprising me at their professionalism and eagerness to work, and do a great job. Having a great crew, makes my job so much easier. Thank you guys!

Today we finished our last pond cleaning, so glad they are done. We have had a great Spring so far. I believe it was better than the last two. Many people have installed new ponds this year, and hopefully there will be more to come. We have a full inventory of plants and fish now, and the store is well stocked too. Now that the plants are growing around the ponds, they are looking great. Summer is a great time to see them.

Hummer

I was looking out the window yesterday and saw the neatest thing. A humming bird landed on the edge of the waterfall. I don't know how he held on, but he drank and bathed while hanging on. It was awesome, wish i had a camera. Seems like the season has finally kicked off. Business has been steady, and increasing. The weather has been up and down, but nice all in all for a spring.

I learned two things about Rabbits this week. One, they will use the same nest over and over again. The first set of bunnies, three, are out of the nest and growing up. Two, rabbits can have litters of SEVEN! I just looked and counted seven, holy crap. It will be fun watching them grow up, but I really have to watch with the mower and trimmer, ugh. I almost hit a couple of the first litter. Have a great day!

I just found another batch of baby bunnies in the same nest as a couple weeks ago. They are about 4" long, so cute. It seems the season kicked into high gear this week. Every day was crazy. I had one pond cleaner quit on me, and had to take up the slack, ugh. My college girls start this weekend, so things will be good now. I will be able to breath as of Sunday. Amy and I need it. We are getting lots of plants out now, as the temperatures have been steadily rising. The anacharis looks like crap. Today I drove to Baltimore to pick up inventory, cleaned plant tanks, trimmed the grass, worked on the fish system, and still managed to help at least a dozen customers. I'm exhausted, almost bed time.

HOT, HAZY, HUMID

The last two days it has felt like July. If you know me, you know I hate the summer heat and humidity. I can't breath, and have to spend my time inside with the air conditioning. Where is the Spring? We once again have had a nice busy weekend. We have gotten a lot of things done around here too. Today is the Make-a-Wish Foundation truck-a-thon, Hundreds of truckers drive Children on a parade route that passes our store. Fire trucks blow their sirens, and trucks blow their air horns, as the children wave to hundreds of on-lookers lined along the road, waving back. It is a very emotional time for me, as the thought of these childrens' lives are limited. Gettysburg Water Gardens has a yearly pond tour-all proceeds benefit this wonderful organization. Please support Make-a-wish.

Can't believe it's been a week since my last blog. Things have been very busy at the store. Both of my pond cleaners gave me last minute resignations. I was able to get two new cleaners, but it took a few days. We are on track now, and the cleanings are getting done. That is a load off my mind. We have been getting our fish stock up. Slowly building it up so not to overwhelm the system. I had to drive to the Baltimore/Washington International airport to pick up floaters. They are now ready to sell, after three days of remaining in the shade. I just not sure the water is warm enough for customers to put them in their ponds. The bunnies are getting bigger. I saw one yesterday and it was double the size from a week ago. They really grow fast. Hopefully the weather will be ok today, as they are calling for possible rain. Love this busy time of year.

Another busy Saturday

Today is another very busy Saturday. Although it's cold and windy, it hasn't seemed to stop people. This week my 40+ year old fork lift died. I had to buy another one, fortunately I stumbled across a real good deal. I got it and was only without one for less than 24 hours. It's so much nicer than the old one-automatic, power steering, lights, back up horn, all the bells and whistles. All the baby bunnies left the nest this week. There are four of them. They have scattered all over the yard. They are so cute running around. Time to get back to customers.

Rabbits!

I was hanging up the "open" sign, and noticed at my feet, an interesting clump of rabbit hair. I knew right away what it was. Once again a rabbit built her nest right by the road. I took a stick and moved the mulch a bit, and all the little bunnies started to move around in the nest. Can't wait to see the little ones come out for the first time.

I love weekends!

We had a nice week all in all. Yesterday was absolutely crazy. From the minute we opened, to the end of the day, we were almost non-stop. The weather was perfect, and customers were out in droves. Four of us handled things fine, and we still were able to get to things done. I believe today will be the same, busy, busy, busy! I love it.

Mondays don't get me down.

Today I placed orders, cleaned filters, and cleaned out one of the greenhouses (all between customers). We are starting to work on plants. I had to pick up soil for planting purposes. It was a long day, but we got a lot done. Matt was off from school today, so we put him to work. Amy helped customers and worked in the greenhouse as well. Oxygenators are coming later this week, and hopefully floaters the following. Keep the warm weather coming!

First Week Down

It has been a great week for us. The weather was very cooperative, and it brought so many people out. Easter weekend helps too. The grounds are starting to look nicer, and so are the ponds. The fish are all up, and wanting fed. We brought in fish for the weekend to sell. I was amazed how many we sold today. The tadpoles and snails were a big hit as well. Everyone wants plants too, but it's way too early for most of them-a couple more weeks people. Tomorrow is Easter, and we will celebrate it at Amy's parent's house. Always good food to be had. Happy Easter everyone.

Opening Day

Today we officially opened. It was a beautiful day and it really brought out the people. We were extremely busy and the customer flow was almost non-stop. I love days like that. Matt and Nicole worked hard, and we got a lot of things done. We started an email mailing list. I'm surprised how many people want to be on it. Many are excited about our live web cams. I hope people enjoy viewing them, as I have had working on them. Tomorrow is another day...........

Final Preparations

Final preparations are under way. I finished up my last construction projects, and can now focus on the store. Today I have drive to Baltimore to pick up some inventory. The store is basically ready, just a few last minutes things to do. Both Matt, my son, and Nicole will be with me tomorrow to help get things off the ground. Ryan, my other son, will be going out with Larry, my pond cleaner, to clean a pond in Harrisburg tomorrow. I also need to pick new business cards today. Everything is coming together perfectly. I'm always very excited to get things off the ground every Spring. I really enjoy my job.

Temporary opening day.

It has been such a nice string of days, that I have decided to open the store tomorrow. I will still open officially on the 27th. Many customers have come in while I'm getting things ready. They are anxious. It's nice to make sales when we aren't even officially open. Let the wonderful weather continue!!!!!

12 days and closing

I have less than two weeks to get the store open. Most everything is priced, stocked and ready to go. I have to get the fish system up and running, and the quarantine system as well. We've had four days of rain, and I'm quite tired of it. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get some things finished. The fish started to feed the other day, and you can see how they have become active on my web cams. The water is a little cloudy, due to the rain, and things generally getting stirred up. This issue will clear up hopefully in a few days.

Not far off now!

The water temperature is starting to warm up. One can tell because today is the first day the fish are starting to swim around the whole pond. It's great to see them moving around after a long winter. The snow is melting, the ground is sloppy, and I'm happy to see all of this. I even had a customer call today to meet me for a purchase. Sweet!

It's nice to walk through the greenhouses and see all the life coming up through the water. The frogs jump from the tops of the pots, back into the water. I love that. There are three very large bull frogs in one of the pond skimmers. I will be taking them out and putting them in the greenhouses. They will be happy to know that Spring is just around the corner. I can't wait for Spring, it's one of my favorite seasons. My busy season is just upon me.

Spring time clean up continues

Today I finished fixing the shed, almost like new (at least as good as it's going to get). What a pain. The lower grounds are nothing but a swamp right now because of all the melting snow. I'm glad it is melting away. It will soon be time to start trapping cats again. My next repair project because of the snow: repair the fish system shelter that almost fell over. It's currently being held up with ropes, a tree, and a come-a-long. Matt, get the concrete!

Shed Raising

Today I spent about an hour trying to rebuild my structure that collapsed from the weight of 3' of snow. I was able to get it up again, but it will need some further work. At least I can now put my tractor back in it.

The turtles, in the big tank inside the store, are glad the store temperature is warming up. They are starting to feed again, as well as the Koi that are in there. Only a few more weeks until opening day. Hurry up Spring!!!

I spent the day getting the last of the boxes unpacked and placed on shelves. Hooked up the second pump, the waterfall pump, the other day. It's nice to see the waterfall running again. Now most of the ice is melted. I hooked up the overview camera so now everyone can watch the fish as they come out of hibernation. I'm excited to see this and hope my customers are also. Hopefully, no more snow will add to the 3 1/2' we got recently.

Clean up.

Spent a couple hours getting the big pond up and running. Had to dig out the skimmer to hook up the pump. Then add water, of all things, to keep the skimmer full enough to keep running. I want to get the pond thawed, running the water will be the best way to do it. I think the real cold temperatures are over for the winter of 2009. One more week and it'll be March. I also had to knock the snow off the overhang to the ice doesn't rip off the gutter. It already has damaged two gutters that I'll have to fix in the Spring. Ugh. Maybe next week I'll start up the big pump that runs the waterfall..

Let the games begin!

Four more pallets of inventory now set inside the store. That makes a total of 12. What a mess. Now the fun begins. Where will I put all of it? Yesterday my son and I worked for over an hour to upright the leaning structure that protects the fish system. Three feet of snow is a lot of weight. We had to use ropes and a come-a-long to get it back to it's original position. What a pain! Only 5 weeks until opening day. So much to do.

Inventory is coming either today or tomorrow. I still need to get the forklift to run, something is wrong with the gas pedal. Friday brings even more inventory. I guess I know what I'll be doing today. At least there is no snow in the weeks' forecast. I'm trying to get my websites wrapped up in the next couple weeks, because when the Spring finally gets here, I won't have the time.

All the snow took it's toll on my shed. It's one of those pole/tarp kind. It collapsed (Picture to come later today). We will go out and try to get the snow off of it. I suspect the poles are bent and will need straightening. Hopefully I can rebuild it. I want spring!!!! Hurry up.

Fish Sense

Today the fish have become much more active than I would expect for this time of year. They are all a-buzz about something. Perhaps they sense the warmer weather coming. That would be ironic since we have received close to 3 1/2' of snow in the last 5 days. You can see the activity by going to my underwater cam at www.justin.tv/gettysburgwatergardens2 Enjoy the show!

Snow, snow, and more snow!

Wow! 15"+ of snow now, and still no end in sight. The greenhouses are holding up so far. (see the pic from yesterday in "slideshow") I guess no orders will be coming this week. We need to get rid of some of this snow first. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

More Snow

Today we are bracing for yet another snow storm. Just got done cleaning up two feet of snow, and now maybe 12"-20" more. Bring it on. As long as the fish are safe, and the greenhouses supported, it's okay with me.

The Clean Up Begins

After spending hours getting unburied from 24" of snow, it's time to time to go out to the store and check things there. I cant even get in the parking lot, so ill have to take the tractor out and open it up just to park. I also have to clear the parking lot to allow for the truck to bring inventory on Friday, and get the fork lift freed. Yesterday I drove by and saw that the greenhouses were okay. I have to remove some snow from the pond to allow the gases to escape. It just means digging the area clear where the deicer's are. (being only 5' 4", this can be a bit of a challenge in 2' of snow). Let the fun begin!

Snowapolis

Today we got 24" of snow, and it's still coming down. I will have to check the greenhouses and make sure they are okay. The good news is, I always put center supports inside for just such an occasion. So it should be fine. The fish are all snug under the ice, so they don't even realize it's happening. It might be darker under the ice now, but they don't care. I love the snow, but can't wait for Spring to arrive!

WELCOME

Welcome to my blog. I will be keeping posts of the many things we do here at Gettysburg Water Gardens: keep up with opening day, hours of operation, our live web cams, our on-line store and much much more. Come watch the fish spawn, feed, or just swim around. You might even see a frog here or there if you watch closely. I look forward to spreading the joy of water gardening to all who watch this blog.