IKEAGE

IKEAGE, North Carolina Style Baby!

On April 17, members of the North Carolina Koi and Watergarden Society gathered at the home of Philip and JoAnne Bronikowski to experience an ikeage, the Japanese tradition of seining a mud pond. It was a first hand experience for most. Blessed with unseasonably warm weather, the afternoon event went well. Several members put on waders or mud boots to harvest the pond. The pond has been running for 2 years, and this was the first time it has been harvested. Unlike Japanese mud ponds that are pulled every fall, this pond is a year round home to its inhabitants. It took a few passes of the seine to get the majority of the koi, but we were able to get a closer look at the ones we were hoping for. As you can see from the pictures below, the red clay of NC and the spring water feeding the pond were in agreement with its residents. After everyone was inspected, some returned to the pond for future growing, and the others will be sold off at the club's koi sale in May. Many thanks to all those that helped. It was a lot of hard work, but very educational for those in attendance.