My dad and I purchased an 80 acre farm in the Spring of 2005. I've decided to post the evolution of the farm. From a boring old field to a crazy playground for both adults and kids.

We bought it for an investment (yeah, right) and camping/hunting, and it’s evolved basically into the following post. Our idea was to buy a piece of property that could support a 3-8 acre pond.

The first summer we spent nights camping on the place. With a small creek running through the north end of the property, there was lots of entertainment for my small boys.

We are currently building a cabin. When that is finished, I’ll post pictures of that whole process. The cabin will be 90% surrounded by water. Yes, almost the whole thing will be over water.

I’m going to start posting (1-10 headings or so) and I’ll keep adding until complete. Here is a summary of what has taken place since we purchased the farm.

Starting with the first post:
1. In the Beginning - and no the second won't be Shout at the Devil for any of you Motley Crue fans.....

Scott

1. In the Beginning
Here are some photos of where we camped. This was the summer after we bought the place.

2. Tree clearing
We had a local lake/pond builder, Jerry Donner, test the soil to make sure it was viable for a dam. They took a few samples and found no rock. Once we had successfully tested the soil, Jerry and his team cleared all of the hedge and locust trees in the proposed lake location. Additionally, my dad had Mike Otto come to our farm during the end of the tree clearing to help design the dam and shore line.

Sounds like it's going to be a great project Scott. Please keep posting the progress.

3. Lake Construction
After clearing the trees, it was time for the fun. The construction of the dam was a fairly big event. The dam is 100+ yards long. At the top, it is 14 feet wide. It took approximately 10 days to complete.

I love the smell of brushpile fires in the morning.

Scott it's looking great. How big will the pond be? I can't wait to see the cabin over the water.

Thanks guys for the help on posting. The lake is 5 acres. I'll post with it full of water.

4. Little Pond.

The property had an existing pond that had been over grown with cattails. When the guys were clearing the trees, my dad decided to have them clean it up. It will now be used as a feeder pond. I plan on putting in 4 lbs of fatheads this spring.

We also have another tiny pond that's about 8 ft wide. It's not big enough to hold fish, but a fun place for the kids to catch frogs and crawdads.

Scott that is awesome, totally awesome. Is the cabin going to be built on the island or is it a peninsula?

Very nice Scott! Thanks for posting. Is the cabin on schedule for this year?

The cabin is going to be insane. We've been trying to get the foundation poured since the beginning of February, but the weather has not been cooperating in Northeast Kansas. We dropped the lake level three feet, but it keeps filling back up! They are now scheduled to start Monday. Keeping our fingers crossed.......

The arrow in the photo is where the cabin is going to be located.

5. Islands

We had a lot of extra dirt and it actually cost less to build two islands. Instead of pushing the dirt a few hundred yards, we just created two small hills in the middle of the lake. My dad then got the wild idea of putting a large rock platform for us to jump off. We put in three rocks with the top one cantilevered. Additionally, we put a rock staircase to the side to climb out of the water. The rocks came from the small pond that we dug out. We hit rock, and had some large pieces laying around. The water is approximately 20 ft deep off the rocks. The inagural dive was performed by my dad in early April of 2006. The water was freezing!!!!!!

I finally got time to look at ALL the pictures. Fantastic!

I thought Kansas was flat with no rocks - you've got a nice elevation change to work with there (envy). How big did the big pond end up?

Impressive. The overhead shot brings it all together. Pond envy happening here.

I see you've got a little Lochness Monster in the second photo of your last post, Scott.

Might want to cut back on the swimming in a few years!

C'mon Theo...he said 5 ac. Sometimes I think that all you Moderators do is look at the pictures (rolleyes).
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What a great project, Scott. You mention your Dad a couple of times. Is see a svelt young man diving from a boulder, then a handsome Patriarche conducting the backhoe orchestra. Would this be one in the same? This might be a good time to expound his contributions to this project, then show him this thread. Only 295 days 'til Christmas.
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I do love the creativity with the rocks and the smaller ponds. Someone had a good plan.

Yes, that is my dad in the photos. He will be 65 this fall. He is quite athletic for his age and still manages to windsurf 2-3 weeks each year.

6. Fish and Structure

In the spring of 2006 we stocked the pond with the following:
2250 bluegill – 3-5”
900 red ear 3-5”
675 channel cat 8-11”
45 lbs fathead minnows

In the fall we added 450 LMB.

Additionally, we put in a gravel strip approximately 10 yards wide and 30 yards long for a place for the LMB to spawn. We also put in a gravel beach with the gravel extending out 20 feet into the water. This has been very good for the bluegill and perch. Last summer we put in 30 Christmas trees for additional structure.

7. Pond is Full.

Here are some photos of the pond full. We never realized how much time we would spend at the farm. Not to mention the endless hours of fun we have. The kids spend hours catching frogs, seining minnows, catiching fish, etc... Basically, it's a big kid's playground and a little kids playground.

8. Garage

We started to accumulate a lot of stuff after the pond was finished. Everything from a mower to plates, silverware, life jackets, etc, etc..... Just a bunch of stuff laying around. That's when we decided to build a garage. Oh, and putting up a basketball goal is a real pain in the you know what........

Absolutely beautiful pond and surroundings!

Wow it's getting even more awesome. I think this might be another PB article in the making.

WOW! Is the garage that blue building sitting behind the cabin site? Is anyone living there? If not I volunteer.

Very nice Scott. Are you up by Atchison?