Raised bed day 1

I built a cinder block raised bed with a temporary chicken wire top to keep my cats out of it until the seeds come up. I planted it today. A mixture of plants and seeds. Vegetables, herbs and beneficial flowers. It is 5 1/2 feet by 6 3/4 feet.

New plants plus an update on the Strawberry Ball

I love geraniums and last weekend my husband got me this new one. It is called Fantasy Candy Kiss. It is so beautiful! The petals look as if they were painted with watercolors.



We also picked up some peppermint. He wanted to plant it with our spearmint but I would not let him. It will go in my kitchen herb garden.



The strawberry ball I made has been doing wonderfully. It keeps making new blooms, the plants are growing and there are strawberries forming!

Pearling

I had read both good and bad about the manual CO2 dispenser that comes with the Fluval Flora tanks. I am very happy with mine and glad I decided to get one for my Ebi tank. I am now considering getting one for my basic 10 gallon tank.

First Blooms of 2013

The first bloom of the year in my yard opened today. It is a dark, windy and rainy day here but I tried to get a photo.



These little weeds began blooming too. I love their delicate tiny purple flowers. When I was little I used to gather many different tiny blooming weeds for fairy bouquets. I was very fortunate in that my grandmother encouraged my imagination and gave me tiny glass bottles to put them in.

8 gallon day 52

The plants could use another trimming. Still no fauna other than a few pond snails. No more algae problems since I started using excell and upped the amount of CO2 I use. The new filter made a huge difference too. After I am well I intend on doing some research to see if I can add cut off valves to the Finnex to make maintenance easier. I also plan to move the CO2 dispenser to the back of the tank where it will be hidden by plants.
I am so very happy with how well the Fissidens fontanus is doing in this tank. It is thriving in it where I could not keep the expensive moss alive at all in my other 2 tanks.