Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction I blame Dave Davidson

Hi all, I'm new here. I'm Dave Davidson's granddaughter. I blame him for this predicament I'm in. You see...I tried really, really, really, hard to be a good city girl. TEN YEARS I've been trying to make a go of it in this town, smack dab in the middle of it. I've got my backyard chickens, my large garden, a porch swing...but this Spring, I told my poor husband I was going to raise 100 broiler chickens in our backyard and sell them at the farmer's market. He promptly suggested that maybe we should just go ahead and move to the country so as not to piss off the neighbors even more (they're already giving me the side eye every time I haul out another bale of straw from the back of my minivan). He says it's for ME that we're moving but I know he's equally excited to be raising some pigs and smoking the bacon himself. That's neither here nor there though. The real problem is that I've got these AMAZING childhood memories of Grandpa Dave taking me out to the country (me getting to sit in his lap and honk the horn on the truck the entire way) and introducing me to all the wonderful ways of the land. Cows, deer, and catfish...is there anything more exciting than catching your first fish at four years old?! So here I am, considering all these properties for sale, many of which have ponds on them. Guys, I know about chickens, and pigs, and goats, and grass, and compost...I know NOTHING about ponds. I need help. I don't even know the basics. I'm trying to catch up but need some direction. Where can I start looking for basic information on ponds in the Pacific North West? Specifically, Washington State. It rains a lot here, y'all. Standing water and overflowing ponds have been an issue on a couple properties I've looked at so far. I would appreciate any and all advice.
Thanks,
Jessica

Y'all give a warm welcome to the kid that I still call poopie pants. OK, her real name is Jessica. She and her husband have blessed us with 3 Grandsons and a Granddaughter. Every couple of months I send cherry butter, beef jerky, and candy to the kids.

Her husband is a CPO in the Navy but I'm probably not suppose to say what he does. We try to get there about once a year.

Knowing her, it will be used as a production pond to produce calories, fun, and memories.

I know nothing about water holes with fish in that part of the world. The general area is Seattle.

Welcome to PBF Jessica,

Looking forward to following along on your new adventure and, of course, hearing all kind of good stories about your Grandpa!

Again, Welcome!

Bill D.

Welcome Jessica! We all blame Your gramps for various things....I think he likes it!

My only dealings with Washington state was a customer that had to go through a LOT of paperwork to get fish shipped to him, but those were Tilapia. I'd suggest starting out by contacting your local NRCS agent at the USDA office covering the area the property you are interested in, is. The services are free, taxpayer supported, and they will do onsite visits, plus tell you what, if any regulatory hassles you'll have to navigate through.

Ps, as a father of a Navy wife, now stationed near King's Bay GA, thank YOU for all you do to keep us safe everyday!!!!

Jessica, you had me at "I blame Dave Davidson".

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome ahhh well I'll use your real name Jessica... Dave although I've only met him once has helped me several times out here on the PBF! He is a good guy no matter how he tries to cover it up!!

I'm sure Dave can tell you a lot about what to look for in a pond... Like RM said I would talk to the DNR there once you think you have a spot picked out and the pond looks like something you want and it passes certain criteria. I would make a list of what I expect my land /pond to be and look like and home. If your property your looking at passes the list then start digging a bit deeper as to who what where and when regulations if any of having a pond in that area... I would also make sure it's 100 percent yours and not 20 feet of it on some neighbors land.... Hey good luck and keep us posted.

RC

BTW Jess; don't believe anything that Sunil or Bob-O says about me.

Awesome Jessica! Dave is a stand up guy even though I've managed to piss him off at least once. But that was my fault.

Edit:

Damn Ipad! Didn't notice it changed stand up to stand off!

Of course I meant stand up guy! .

Welcome Jess, I don't believe anyone that lives in Washington State says ya'll......

I would start (before you buy any property) by hitting some of the counties NRCS offices where you are looking at property and talk to them about the ins and outs of building a pond, or buying a property with one already on it.

Reason for saying that, is I don't know what it costs to build a pond there, nor what (if any) permitting process is required. You may be money ahead getting one already built.

Ask them if you wanted to renovate it, what permitting process would be needed too.

Welcome Jess and your Grandfather is one of the best guys I know - be thankful.

Washington does have regulations. Start here for your Ext office

http://extension.wsu.edu/locations/

Jessica, don't know why DD involved me in the "please ignore" list but I will be the first to tell you I am a stand up, straight shootin, humble young man. Now Sunill....maybe grandpap got that correct.

Jess, the main pond criteria is the environment of the pond. That means water quality and that comes from the soil. The soil/water has to have the proper fertility to support fish life.

Rocks and/or sand will not hold water. That means that you need loam with about 60% clay and 40% soil(dirt). Both numbers are approximates but the soil in your back yard seems to be fertile and should hold water. Not all areas there will. Contact the County Agent to inquire about soil and water fertility tests.

Even in rainy areas, you want a pond that will hold water. You can do a bucket test. Take some soil and mash it down into a bucket with a hole in the bottom. Fill it with water and see if the water leaks out through the soil.

BTW, you live on Bremerton Island. One of our members here is Dwight Bremer. He had some fairly disreputable moonshiner ancestors there that the island was named after. Or, that's what he told me.

Island to me means salt water. What's the % of salt in the freshwater ponds on the island? A certain % of salt is good for freshwater fish.

Welcome aboard to a great learning forum. What town? I know theres only couple places for you being Navy. Navy stands above the rest.

Now Joshua, I answered all that above. You should have gone USAF. Well, scratch that. Reading and writing is only important in 1 branch of the service.

NOW Dave, I know theres tons of towns around Seattle. Thats like saying i live in Dallas, but really I live in Hurst.

Now that we got that out of the way, start posting pictures Josh!!!

Heres some links for Kitsap County. If I think of some other people in the area, I will let you know

www.kitsapgov.com/
http://ext100.wsu.edu/kitsap/


Tell you husband thank you for serving-from a fellow sailor.

Jessica,

Secretly, we all blame dave. Your in!

About a pond, go big, real big. Oh and get yourself a sissy stick, they are a blast.

Welcome, Jessica.

Thank you, by the way, for the recent box. The kids called to thank you and got the machine, I'm pretty sure there was just a bunch of yelling in that message they left you.

Thank you Bill!

Thank you for the advice. It's been like pulling teeth around here to get definitive answers as to what we "can"/"can't do with certain tracts of land. And every county has completely different methods of zoning. It's been fun.

HA!