There is a pasture across the road from the main farm that is long overdue for a mowing/clean-up/conditioning, so we are planning to run a Mowing Menagerie there this Spring, and eat up all the rose bushes, bramble, young trees, and other stuff cluttering the view. To get ready, we need to remove decades-old barbed wire in dire dis-repair, rotten old fence posts with various hardware, garbage etc. and make it safe for the critters.Today was our second day of clean-up: clip the run of wire between fallen posts, pull the strand free from the bracken and honeysuckle, fold it up to a portable size, and into the farm pick-up. Save all the loose nails, staples and bits for the bucket, and on to the next strand. Pile all fallen or broken off posts for pick-up later, and keep your eyes peeled for plastic fence posts, old electric wire, beer bottles, oil cans, and shotgun shells. (Annoying red plastic does not belong in a pasture...it hurts the eyes) Sounds easy enough, but remember, the fence is in an area that looks much like this:
But without most of the pretty snow...
And I am unclear why exactly they say witches' gazongas are so cold, but I was definitely as cold as them today - the windchill was -5 F for most of the day. Except when it was -6 F. Brrrr.
3 comments:
That doesn't look like a pasture; it looks like a wood lot! Will you fence it with electric?
The area we have targeted to erect the fenceline is really overgrown, and that is part of the strategy - to have the goats/cows/sheep take down the rosebushes and young stuff so we can sort out what trees stay (probably mostly the maples). The rest of the area looks much more like field...honest.
We are planning to use plastic covered steel posts with 2 or 3 strands of electric tape. We want to train all the Mowing Menagerie to respect the fence, and my boss is a big believer in getting rid of any livestock that do not.
I guess I'll have that "talk" with the group when we start in the Spring...
Ah...brings back good memories of Upstate! Aren't the wind chills this winter the pits? I don't mind the cold, but the wind has been horrible to deal with. Amen re: the witches...been thinking I'm glad I'm not a well-digger. ;-)
Post a Comment