How high is the water, Mama? Three feet high and rising...

 Next up...tackling the pond. The acreage we purchased came complete with a 2 acre pond, dug by the grandfather of the previous owner. We were told that the pond is about 100 years old. A little creek replenishes the pond, and as we began to see, when it rains, it rises fairly quickly. We've never owned a pool, much less a pond, so learning about pond management, and taking care of the life inside of it, was up on our list of important things to tackle. 

In addition, the pond plays a role in the Timber Management plan, so I "went back to the well" of Texas A&M Forest Services to see if their Agrilife extension had pond management leads that I could tap to help us. What I found was AquaTek, and its fabulous owner Blake Kellum. Once again, we landed a great resource for info on ponds, fish and land management. Blake consults on everything from golf course ponds to farm ponds and everything else in between. 

The first thing we did was tackle the invasive Chinese Tallow that was overrunning the eastern bank of the pond. In a day and half, and with the help of a skid steer and mulcher, one acre of the Chinese Tallow was chipped to the forest floor, hand cleared and burnt. Herbicides were put on the remaining stumps of the Tallow to prevent further growth. There is nothing more satisfyingly than seeing progress made, and seeing beautiful Oaks, Pines, Willows and Maples become free of the Tallow and Yaupon that was choking them. 

While on site, Blake and his team at AquaTek built us a beautiful new pier to fish off of because all work, and no play makes for a pretty dreadful day. Of course, we marked the pier with all the appropriate signage given that it stretches out over the shallow end of the pond where it is only about 3' deep in the dry season. While a ton was accomplished during Blake's first week with us, he isn't done. Blake will be back in the spring to stock our pond with a few more fish and build a small fishing dock on the southern side of the pond.

Red and yellow kill a fellow!

Stretching the mind and the body!