From all of us at Quality Koi Company, we wish you happy holidays and a wonderful new year! If you want to email us pictures of your pond in the winter, send them to info@qualitykoi.com and we will post them on the blog. The blog will return on Monday, January 4, 2010.
Archive for December, 2009
Happy Holidays
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009We had record setting snow fall here on Saturday!! The area averaged around 20″ of snow in about 24 hours. And with temperatures hovering around freezing until Friday, I don’t think this snow is going anywhere any time soon!
See if you can recognize the pond…it looks alot different than at harvest time…
Front Pond
Acre Pond
Oval Pond
Long Pond
Retention Basin
Pond 27
Newest Addition to the Farm
Monday, December 14th, 2009On Friday we had a special delivery to the farm. We needed to aquire a special storage area that was rodent proof, weather proof…basically farm proof! Although we store our sacks of food in large plastic containers, we needed to find a way to add another layer of storage that is completely impenetrable. We also wanted to provide this same protection and storage capability to all of our shipping supplies. Since we always ship koi in an insulated shipping box, we have a large stock of boxes on hand that we need to keep safe from the elements. We settled on a 40′ storage container that is 8′ wide, the kind that is used for shipping large cargo. We’ll start loading her up this week!
Ponds by Arnie
Friday, December 11th, 2009Earlier this week we had a visit from Arnie Slonaker. Over the years he has worked with Quality Koi on the farm for various projects. We also recommend Arnie’s services to many of our customers that are looking for new ponds, upgraded ponds, and pond repair. Below are some pictures of his work. If you visit his website http://pondsbyarnie.web.officelive.com/default.aspx you can see many more pictures of his work. It is hard to find knowledgeable KOI pond builders, so we always recommend Arnie to customers who are looking for someone with experience. It’s important to keep in mind that building a pond/water garden is different than building a koi pond.
Thank You Curt
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009We are very fortunate to have been able to work with Curt Coucill. Curt is a master craftsman by trade, concentrating mostly on wood working for most of his career. We met Curt many years ago, and over the years he has worked on the farm for various projects. In the beginning, his projects mostly included construction. If you have ever been on the farm, then you have most likely walked up stairs he built, viewed koi from decks he built, or opened greenhouses with doors he built. Over the years we have brought him back to work on projects far beyond the scope of construction, as he is always ready and willing to take on new challenges. The most recent project he worked on was the new Grow-out Greenhouse. We were fortunate to have him here with us on the farm for the past nine months, working on every single detail of the new greenhouse. From pouring concrete pads, to constructing new types of filtration, to building the shed for the boilers, to sweating the copper, to installing the entire indirect heating system, Curt has been there to execute every last detail. Since the greenhouse project is now complete and running beautifully, we had to say good-bye to Curt. He will be greatly missed by all of us (especially Kiko), not only for the incredible skills he has brought to our farm, but also for his witty sense of humor and his admirable sense of character. Although we officially refer to the new greenhouse as the Grow-out Greenhouse, we will always fondly refer to it as “The House that Curt Built.”
The Heat is On
Friday, December 4th, 2009It has been a long road, but the heat is now on in our new Grow-out Greenhouse! We have successfully raised the water temperature in each system to it’s target. This will now give us the ability to provide optimal growing conditions for these smaller koi. We will keep you updated on their progress.
Visitors at the Farm!
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009Among many of the koi breeders in the United States there is great comraderie and professionalism. In fact, many of the breeders have joined forces over the past three years to put together an American Koi Breeders’ Koi Show (we are still working on forming an official American Koi Breeders’ Association). Eventhough we may be business competitors, we are all still working to promote the same thing…American bred koi. We are able to talk about common challenges we face in koi breeding and farming, and also work together on solutions. Whether it’s about predators, mud ponds, or most anything else dealing with koi breeding, we are all incredibly valuable resources to each other.
Joe Pawlak, Blackwater Creek Koi Farms, and John Fornaro, Hanover Koi Farms, were in the area and came by the farm for a visit today. Even though southern New Jersey is a mild, sunny 61 degrees today, Joe thought it was pretty cold. I guess you can take the boy out of Florida, but you can’t take the Florida out of the boy 
We had a great time showing them around the farm and sharing koi “tales” with each other!
Online Seminar with Mat McCann
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009This weekend the World Wide Koi Club (affliated with Koiphen) is hosting a virtual koi show. One of the features they are offering is a series of online seminars. Mat’s seminar is Sunday, December 6 at Noon. His seminar is Question and Answer format so that he is able to talk about the koi topics YOU want to learn more about, but you most post your question to him ahead of time on this specific Koiphen thread. To attend this seminar, which you do from your computer, you must be registered ahead of time. For more details and to post a question to Mat, visit http://www.koiphen.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=168