Taste Test Your Pond – How Your Pond Can Help You Grow Fresh Fruit And Veg

Owning a backyard pond is great for relaxation and there are many benefits to having fishy friends but one perk of your aquatic ecosystem that you probably haven’t considered is its ability to provide great fertiliser for your garden and fresh produce for your table.

If you want to get serious about aquaculture you can design your own aquaponics system but if you’d rather not have such a rigid set up, you can still get some great help in the garden from your fishy friends.

Pond water is naturally high in nutrients thanks to the organic waste produced by pond plants that are degrading and fish doing their business. This means your pond can easily be turned into an all you can eat buffet for your plants.

There are two main ways in which this can be done and each method has its own unique benefits:

Method One:

While it can be tempting to simply dump any build up from the base of your pond next to it and let water removed during cleaning flow down the lawn, you can actually use these resources to give your garden a natural boost.

Water removed from a well-balanced aquatic ecosystem can safely be used to water your flowers or vegetables and any sludge that has built up can be quite an effective fertiliser for any plants that you want to treat to some extra nutrients.

It may seem a little gross to use your fish waste to feed your plants but when you think about it, organic waste is the main ingredient in most fertilisers so at least this way you know exactly where it came from.

Providing extra nutrients pretty much guarantees that your plants will be bigger, tastier and more beautiful so think twice before you dump that bucket of pond water on the lawn (unless you want to give your grass dessert of course).

Method Two

Those who are feeling a bit more adventurous can also grow a whole host of edible plants directly in their ponds.

Many aquatic plants can be munched on and you would be surprised at how much of what you buy at the local market or greengrocer can be, or already is, grown underwater. Chinese Water Chestnut, for example, thrives growing in an aquatic environment, as do Taro and many herbs including the particularly delicious Chocolate Mint.

Like all aquatic plants your new edibles will have preferences to how and where they are situated within your pond so you’ll need do your research before you go planting things wholesale, but the good news is that they’re not much harder to cultivate than other pond plants that you would add for aesthetics so it’s fairly easy to get started.

Note: Some plants will require that you grow a certain species (Water Lettuce differs from standard Lettuce for example) so make sure you’re getting the right kind of plant for where you will be growing it.

If delicious fresh veggies and herbs aren’t motivation enough for you to give edible aquaculture a go, consider the fact that the extra plants can also provide great protection from predators for your fishy friends and help boost your pond filtration. Plus some of them might even deter unwanted insects from making your pond their home.

In other words, everyone wins! If you’d like to begin your edible adventure but aren’t sure how to get started give us a call on 1300 005 670 or get in touch via our contact page.