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Linda and I live on a tract of land in Crisfield, Somerset County, Maryland called Jonathan's Addition. The land was originally patented to Jonathan Somers on April 5th, 1742 containing 30 Acres more or less. This parcel of land was later sold by deed to George Croswell of the County. Mr. Croswell appears on the 1783 tax list, living in a small log house. He is taxed for some fruit trees and several cows. The property was transferred to Isaac "Crow" Sterling during the Civil War era. Isaac Sterling's house was not far from our home today on the east side of the City of Crisfield. Issac "Crow" Sterling and his wife are buried in the Crisfield Cemetery on Chesapeake Ave. | ||||
Our 180 gallon
goldfish pond is a lot of fun in the spring and summer. We have raised about 10
new fish over the past 3 years. We now have a total of 14 fish, 3 of which are fantails , the rest are comets. All of the fish were purchased at the local aquarium store for as little as $1.59.
Goldfish grow very fast in outdoor ponds, reaching a length of 6 inches or more in about 3 years.The size of the pond is the determining factor. Generally speaking the bigger the pond the bigger the fish.
We feed our fish once a day with commercial pond fish food and bread when the water temperature is above 50 degrees. The water stays clear thanks to our biological filtering system. Ammonia from fish waste is converted by nitrifying bacteria living in the filter and pond to nitrogen that is used by the plants. The plants provide oxygen and shade for the fish. It works just like the river.We have a variety of aquatic plants in the pond, including lilies, irises, and floating plants. The iris is a beautiful blue as you can see from the photograph.
This plant was introduced to our water garden as a bulb that we planted in a small plastic container with a little potting soil. The water lilies are a hardy variety called "Charlene Strawn"a prolific bloomer, very easy to propagate. They open in late morning and close in late afternoon.
As spring approaches the water in the pond heats up and several varieties of frogs appear in and near the pond. When the sun has set, the frogs begin to make all those great sounds, that sing us to sleep on those pleasant evenings in May and June. When summer rolls around the plants are in full bloom and the goldfish come to the surface asking to be feed. Our outdoor cats like to sit near the pond edge and watch the fish swim around just out of reach of their paws. We have never lost any fish to cats. Some people say they have lost fish to birds like fish hawks and herons.
By late summer (August) the dragonflies and damselflies make their appearance in the water garden. They are very entertaining as they fly around, occasionally landing on some of the tall plants. Both varieties lay eggs on water plants or in the water, and the nymphs develop there. They leave the pond after several growing stages; the skin splits and the adult emerges.|
History of our area Joshua Thomas "Parson of the Islands" |
Our Activities
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Page last updated Feb, 2008 |
