Shoveling the sawdust into the dam

We are lucky to have a local sawmill, where we can always find an abundance of sawdust for use in our garden. We also have a friendly neighbour, who has a large pile of rotting sawdust on his property which we have access to. 

Our recently dug dam has a slight leak (we have incredibly difficult soil to dig a dam in...), and using rotted sawdust may help seal the dam. The sawdust also has a number of other uses.

It rots down at the bottom of the dam and is a way of creating soil on the floor of the dam, so we can start growing food there. We are planning to plant a number of different water plants, to create a healthy and abundant environment for the fish we are planning to add to the dam (and eventually catch and eat!)

Ground cover is starting to come up!!

The sawdust also helps to establish the ground cover on the edge of the dam, which will minimise erosion of the bank (which means we will be able to do some more splashing around in the future without worrying about erosion issues!!) , and the ground cover minimises clouding of the water during and after heavy rain, so we are keen to ensure there is plenty of  it!

The growth on the dam wall has had its first haircut already, it is looking fantastic! Weather has cooled a little here, so we haven't been using the dam as much as we would like, but summer is on its way!