Floating Garden Livens Up Farm Pond

Floating Garden Livens Up Farm Pond AG WORLD 32-4-22 Building a floating island in his small farm pond was a fun project for Jean Peacock of Rocheport, Mo. After first reading about the floating vegetable garden of a Texas FARM SHOW reader (Vol. 26, No. 3), Peacock was inspired by the idea. "I tried the project on a really small scale to see how it worked and it only took one afternoon to do it," Peacock says. Using 14, 4-in. dia. by 5-ft. long pvc sewer pipes (lashed together with nylon army surplus rope), he made a 5 by 6-ft. floating base for his 25-ft. dia. pond. The pipes have caps on the ends to make them airtight. "I built a 3 by 5-ft. wood framework around the top of the pipes and filled it with compost. Then I planted vegetables and flowers. The roots grow down through the pipes to find water." Peacock connected the island to shore with pulleys, like a clothesline, so he can just pull it over to a little dock he made. "We don't normally step onto it," he says. "I pull it up on dry land in the winter time." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jean Peacock, 1350 S. Hickory Grove Schl. Rd., Rocheport, Mo. 65279 (ph 573 445-9129; jpeacock@centurytel.net).

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