PULLING POSTS: PULLING POSTS TO MAKE WAY FOR THE NEW IS EXHAUSTING WORK.
posted on
March 19, 2015
PULLING POSTS
PULLING POSTS TO MAKE WAY FOR THE NEW IS EXHAUSTING WORK.
We had been intending to replace this aged fence this winter, but frozen ground prevented the work. With the recent thaw, however, we spent Tuesday pulling 60 - 70 posts, leaving me plenty fatigued. Despite essential help from equipment and partner, Brenden, the posts had to be manually handled several times. They are deceptively heavy, with some weighing in excess of 100 lbs. The in-ground portion is usually saturated with water, providing weighty reluctance to clearing old in favor of new.
So it is with life. Old barriers to successful living usually stand in view, and, at some point, it becomes worth the great effort to remove them. Withered and weathered structures are often perched on deceptively heavy foundations, so their removal is not easy. That is not to say all which is withered and weathered should be removed. On the contrary, some offers such beauty and wisdom, they warrant utmost sanctuary. But it is our responsibility to sculpt our own landscape and remove obstacles that impede us, whether on the farm, in the home, or in the mind.
We will replace this 70-year old, woven-wire, locust-post fence with a lighter one, consisting of one strand of high-tensile wire supported by 1/2 inch fiberglass posts. It will be installed without equipment and will be enforced by electric current. It much better meets the description of the landscape we area developing to support us in years ahead.
Recent flooding left these culverts eroded and stranded. We are repairing the road, so horse drawn-logging may proceed in nearby woods. Creating and repairing landscape never stops.
With all the mud last week, we found ourselves tearing up pastures as we delivered hay to livestock. Between rainstorms, however, we were able to deliver a week’s worth of feed in advance, now only having to move hotwires to allocate hay.
After a day of sculpting landscape, a man is often hungry and tired. When he is “baching” it, because the good wife is serving other causes, winning solutions to complex problems arise. Below left was Tuesday night’s dinner: one pound of lamb ribs, broiled 6 minutes per side, one pound of beef liver, sauteed 30 seconds per side, 2015 vintage well-water, and a homemade chocolate chip cookie for dessert. Breakfast the next morning featured beef kidney, with a touch of lemon, salt, and pepper. Totally satiated and beautifully satisfied!
One virtue of grassfed meats is they require so little adornment. They don’t need to be buried in spices to be exquisite. “Simple” works beautifully for them.
We look forward to seeing you the next two Sundays, March 22 and 29, and the famers market at Clark Montessori.
On-line ordering is available at: http://grassrootsfoods.biz/on-line-purchasing, with next delivery being for Wednesday the 25th at 4:00 at the corner of Pape & Bellecrest Avenues. The ordering window for this delivery closes this Sunday evening.
In tribute to removing obstacles from the landscape,
Drausin & Susan
