EIPS Newsletter
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In This Issue:
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December 2007 |
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October 27th Meeting Last meeting’s minutes were approved.
Larry Thompson announced that he had heard that Monica Morley and Dave Bell might offer to put their name on the ballet for President and Vice President for 2008. Larry said that he was hopeful they would as the Hunerdosse's and Thompson's would prefer not to repeat in 2008. We will need volunteers for 2008, so be sure to be thinking about what you would like to do on the various committees and functions. Pond Expo discussion: Someone wondered if we will have another Expo this year and the general consensus was that we probably will not, but that the Central Iowa Society might. Kodama Koi question: Someone asked if everyone's Koi were doing OK and everyone said their Koi were doing great. New Koi food discussion: Larry said he had read about a new Koi food called Manda Fu that can be fed at lower water temperatures. It is manufactured in Japan. No one present had any experience with it. Larry has ordered some and can report back if anyone is interested. Leave filter running in Winter question: Someone asked if anyone had experienced success leaving their filter and pumps running in the winter. No one present had, but Larry indicated he thought the Morley's had got along OK, as long as you regularly check the water levels to insure the pump and intake has not frozen and the pump has sufficient water to keep it running efficiently. How to keep your pond open in the winter question: Several methods were discussed including aerators and heaters or a combination of both. How to start a new pond question: Various methods were discussed including adding commercial bacteria/ sewage treatment products such as Ecological Labs, etc. Other methods included transferring filtration media (pads, etc) and water from a healthy established pond in order to seed the new pond with the healthy bugs in order to jump start mother nature's natural process. It was noted that two members who have Tropical fish, Sindelar's and Thompson's, always seed a new aquarium with aged sponge filters from a healthy tank. This process has worked 100% of the time in order to quickly establish a good supply of bugs. It was also noted that new ponds must not be overloaded with fish. The fewer fish the better, for at least a year, and then gradually add fish until the pond matures and excellent water quality is established. End discussion: Everyone thought this informal discussion and information sharing about topics of interest was lots of fun and beneficial. It was especially beneficial to the new members present who had a lot of questions about their new pond. The meeting was adjourned and Pat had lots of great snacks and drinks. She also passed out lots of goodies such as flower seeds from all kinds of flowers and dried flowers already dried and ready for your use. Submitted by Erma Thompson
November 10th Meeting The final meeting (the last supper) for the year 2007 was held at the Cooper’s Mill restaurant. Everyone gathered in the conference room to visit and order dinner. Elena Murillo had handmade each member a glass goblet with attached flowers and humming birds and filled with Hershey Kisses. Each goblet also contained a paper koi that had a different wise saying printed on it for fun. Many thanks to her for all her hard work in their preparation. They dressed up our tables nicely. After our mea l, president, Gary Hunerdosse, welcomed club members and thanked them for the great past year. He sent around sign up sheets for hosting 2008 meetings and the various committees that every year needs a new batch of volunteers. EIPS has always been made up of some of the most gracious volunteers. Some committees take a lot less commitment of time than others, so there really is something for everyone and we encourage everyone to sign up for at least one committee. Other than putting together next year’s agenda, there really was no other new business to discuss. Concerning old business, Gary had Jim Milden read 2 thank yous the club received from the 2 young students from Kirkwood that received this year’s scholarships donated by the club. Bryce Bridges, who hopes to open his own landscape business and Taylor Hansen, who hopes to be a golf course greens keeper where the gentleman sending out their thanks. A final year end treasure’s report was given, with 3 outstanding checks; there is $2552.94 in savings and $2559.50 in checking for a total of $5112.44 in the treasury. The chairmen and 2007 committee volunteers were all mentioned by name and again thanked by Gary. It was mentioned by Dorothy Helms that member Sharon Weiss was going through her knee surgery on the 12th. We all wanted her to know she’s in our thoughts and prayers. The final business of 2007 was to hold the elections for new officers for 2008. Monica Morley volunteered to become president again. Dave Bell volunteered to be next year’s Vice President. (He also promised a “Koi in every Pond” but, you know how campaign promises can be!! ) I, Jackie, volunteered to hold the only office I haven’t done yet and that’s the treasure’s job and also volunteered to continue to write the minutes, which is basically the secretary’s only job. Monica and her sister Maria have agreed to continue to put together the newsletter. (Which, is truly the hardest job of all the offices) Rosie and Herman Michel have graciously offered to maintain the club library and last but not least the Geers have volunteered to continue to maintain the door prize accumulation and dispersement, which is no little job either. Gary announced all these nominations and asked for further nominations from the crowd. With no contested position, a show of hands was taken to accept the 2008 nominations as above. A unanimous vote came from it and in contrast from last year where we had to lock the doors to get a completed vote it was all finished in just a few minutes. Yee haw! Click for pictures of the 2007 Officers Click for pictures of the 2008 Officers As promised, there were gifts for everyone. Monica, as chairman of the recognition committee had put together several great gifts for all those that volunteered at some point during the year, and as I mentioned earlier that was pretty much everybody! She gave special recognition to all the previous officers. She thanked Jim Milden for his time spent on this year’s pond tour advertising. She presented me a great t-shirt for my work as a KHA and chairing the Expo event. She put the names of all the contributing newsletter article writers in a special drawing with Robert Hollenbeck winning the Frog statue for his many pictures he sent in. She handed out numerous certificates and some great looking laminated calendars to all the other members that helped during the year. A special t-shirt for writing “Hosta of the Month” for the newsletter and $100.00 gift certificate will also be mailed out to Josh Spece for his great work on our website. Very special thank you must go out for our past presidents, Jo and Gary Hunerdosse. They did a terrific job running meetings and keeping things fun. We had 6 very nice GRAND-End of the Year door prizes. This year, Kevin Bailey from Prairie Creek Landscape donated a wonderful air pump. We also had a fish net, a pond deicer, 2 water spitters a frog and fish and a solar fountain. Grand prize winners this year were, Pat Beuter, Dave Bell, Gil Morley, Jim Milden, Larry Thompson and Gary Hunerdosse. In addition to these great prizes, we had numerous additional door prizes. As mentioned before, everybody went home with something. Gary ended the meeting by thanking everyone again for the great year and reminding folks of the Linn County Master Gardeners Spring Symposium on Feb. 2nd at Kirkwood College. Meeting was adjourned. Happy Holidays and see you in the Spring as we look forward to another great ponding year! Respectfully submitted…Jackie Allsup | |
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By Josh Spece Hosta ‘Kiwi Full Monty’ Like so many things anymore, the Hostas we enjoy in our gardens are not limited to just those grown and developed in the United States. Probably surprising to many, the exotic country of New Zealand is the origin of a large series of Hosta varieties. The Kiwi series is the work of Barry Sligh of Taunton Gardens in New Zealand. The best known plant from down under is Hosta ‘Kiwi Full Monty’, a sport of Hosta ‘Striptease’. When Barry discovered it among a large planting of ‘Striptease’ he knew this sport was special. Wanting a name that carried on the family theme, Barry reasoned that any stripper would turn blue in the cold so "Full Monty" seemed appropriate. ‘Kiwi Full Monty’ has frosty blue leaves with a narrow gold center and like ‘Striptease’, is highlighted by a thin white line between the two colors. The blue coloring is most striking in the spring, but the color holds very well even with a few hours of sun. ‘Kiwi Full Monty’ has an excellent growth rate and will grow into a 3-4 foot wide mound in just a few years. ‘Kiwi Full Monty’ always draws a lot of attention from visitors to my garden. I’m not sure what they like more, the plant or its name! | |
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Heartland Acres sends a Thank You Eastern Iowa Pond Society Inc. Thank you for your generous donation to the Heartland Acres Agribition Center in Independence, Iowa. It will be used toward the landscaping and grounds improvement around and near Swan Lake. Warmest Regards
$500.00 was donated to Heartland Acres from part of the 2007 Pond Tour proceeds Letters From The Students Receiving The EIPS Kirkwood Scholarship I would like to take the time to thank you for this opportunity and acceptance. The scholarship I have received means a lot to me and will benefit me through my schooling. I am majoring in Turfgrass management and I am enjoying the classes very much. This goal is to become a greenskeeper for a golf course and turn it into a highly rated and well known club and course. Thanks to this opportunity you are acceling my road to career success. Once again I thank you. Taylor Hanson Dear Eastern Iowa Pond Society; I would sincerely like to thank the Eastern Iowa Pond Society Scholarship Foundation for making this scholarship possible. I consider this scholarship a great honor and I’m very grateful that I was chosen. This scholarship will help me to achieve my goal in completing my last year at Kirkwood. It will also push me to pursue my future in owning my own landscaping/nursery business. I can’t tell you enough how much this means to me, so once again I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Bryce Bridges | |
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Happy Holidays to everyone... Another new year is approaching and we are looking to get more insight from the members. E-mail me one sentence or more on how your pond is doing during the upcoming cold months. Please take a few minutes to share with your fellow ponders. According to the member survey 85% of you would like to read more about your fellow members & their ponds. Let’s make that happen…….. Website Update…..Check out all the photo entries from the 2007 Photo Contest. Monica | |
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Get Well! Goes out to Sharon Weiss after her knee surgery in November. We wish Sharon a speedy recovery. | |
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Be a part of the 2008 Photo Contest Pictures from your pond or a fellow members pond. Catagories -Winter Scene
In The Country Garden & Gifts. E.I.P.S. members receive a 10% discount. Must show your current membership card at time of purchase. www.inthecountrygardenandgifts.com Prairie Creek Nursery 319-365-1406
Stop in to see Shirley and Kevin at Prairie Creek Nursery ** Pond Supplies
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December Birthdays Rita Tharp - December 3
If you would like your birthday printed in the newsletter, email us at mespringcove@aol.com or sign in with the Hospitality Committee. | |
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from The Pond Doc Protect Your UV The quartz sleeve in your UV is the most delicate part of the unit. It is not warranted by the manufacturer and is also quite expensive to replace. When water freezes inside the UV’s tube it will ALMOST ALWAYS expand and crack the sleeve. You can’t depend on moving water not freezing because if we have an ice storm the electricity more than likely will go out and the water will stop running. The best thing to do is simply take the unit off the system and store it in the garage until spring. You could take out the lamp and the quartz sleeve but, if you do, you take a chance of breaking them by handling them. Protect Your Plumbing Any outside plumbing, flex or hard PVC, can rupture if water freezes inside it. Wrap all exposed plumbing with insulation or bury it. Drain the entire system, including pipes, if possible. | |
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from Aquascapes Water Garden If someone chooses to shut down their waterfall for the winter, then they’ll want to consider using a floating heater and a small recirculating pump. The two should be kept about five feet apart; otherwise the warm water will be circulated away from the heater, causing the heater to run more than necessary. The pump will need to be removed and stored submersed in a bucket of water in a frost-free location. The water around the pump housing will help prevent the seal on the pump from drying and cracking. Next, remove the bags of biological media and filter mats from the BioFalls® Filter. Wash the media down and store in a garage or shed. Removing the biological media bags and filter mats during your winter shutdown makes your spring clean-out easier. You can place a pump (one that pumps at least 150 gallons per hour) below, but close to, the water’s surface. By allowing it to bubble about one inch above the surface, the agitation will keep a hole in the ice and oxygenate the water until the air temperature drops below 10* F. If the air temperature drops below 10 ° F, you’ll need to add a heater in order to maintain a hole in the ice. Most heaters are equipped with a thermostat. Set at the proper temperature, the heater switches on only when needed. Please note: A floating heater alone will not oxygenate the water, and therefore can be deadly to your fish. Large fish, and/or fish in heavily stocked ponds, require water to be actively oxygenated in order to guarantee their survival. So yes, ponds do just fine in the winter. Contrary to popular belief, the fish and plants don’t need to be taken in during the winter. As long as you know what needs to be done and why, your ponds will survive the winter just fine! | |
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from The Pond Doc During the winter many species of song birds can be found pillaging through the yard for tasty morsels. You can transform a tree into a holiday smorgasbord for birds by creating edible decorations. The birds, then, become part of the holiday décor whether they want to or not. Cut bagels in half, creating two circles, and smear a thick layer of crunchy peanut butter on the cut side. Press the bagel, peanut butter side down, onto a plate filled with bird seed, raisins, shelled peanuts, dried cheese crumbles, berries — anything the birds might desire — and coat it well. Hang the bagels up on the tree by using cheerful holiday ribbon threaded through the hole in the middle of the bagel. Make edible pine cone decorations by threading thin ribbon into the spaces between the prickly parts and leave enough ribbon to tie the pine cone onto the limb of the tree. Fill the spaces of the pine cone with peanut butter or suet and coat it with seeds and raisins. In fact, anything that is not toxic to the birds and squirrels can be coated with peanut butter and bird seed and hung on the tree. Your imagination is your only limitation. Try recycling old decorations that have been cleaned or cutting festive shapes out of wood. | |
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from Aquascapes Water Garden As the growing season ends, your client should be advised to stop fertilizing the aquatic plants. Hardy lilies that are planted deeper than 12 inches will overwinter in the pond with no difficulty. In the late fall, as the leaves are yellowing, simply cut the dead lily leaves and stalks, leaving approximately 2” to 3” at the base of the plant. Hardy bog and marginal plants will also be fine right where they are. Trim the leaves and plant material down just above water level. Tropical plants are a different story. Many marginals can be brought inside for the winter and grown just like any other indoor tropical plant. The pot just needs to be placed in a saucer that holds water and they’ll be happy. Tropical lily tubers can also be stored over the winter. Many people just treat tropicals as an annual, by discarding them in the fall and buying new ones in the spring. Any other tropical aquatics that you intend to overwinter indoors should be removed from your pond, potted, and brought indoors. | |
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from Aquascapes Water Garden If the pump moves at least 2000 gallons of water per hour, the waterfall can run continuously throughout the winter. This will keep a hole open in the ice as well as help oxygenate the water. When the waterfall is run during the winter, Mother Nature makes extraordinary, natural ice sculptures that result in some especially beautiful winter scenes. Some caution must be taken with ponds that have long or slow-moving streams. Ice dams can form and divert the water over the liner side. And on extremely cold days, keep a watchful eye on the stream to be sure everything is running smoothly. Surprisingly, waterfalls that are operated throughout the winter will experience some evaporation. The water should be periodically checked and topped off when necessary. | |
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from Maria Hamilton Cheesy Buffet Potatoes
2 lb frozen hashed browns
Combine first 7 ingredients. Spoon into a 9X13” baking pan. Toss crumbled corn flakes with melted butter and sprinkle over top. Bake 350 for 35-40 minutes. May be prepared ahead and refrigerated until time to bake. Combine first 7 ingredients in greased crock pot and cook on high 3-4 hours. Watch & stir occasionally. Can also be cooked on low, just adjust the time. Omit last two ingredients. | |
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Eastern Iowa Pond Society Membership Application | |
