Busy, Busy

To say the Moose and I are tired, is an understatement, we're sore all over! (see bengay-to-you-too) We could use some Bengay ourselves!

We had a very long, very busy weekend at The Compound.  We spent the night so we could get as much work in as possible.  You see, the 7 little pigs escaped their confines this past week, so we needed to work on their area, and what was really one project became three-in-one.

1.  We wanted to section off the garden, so we could move the pigs into different locations so they could help till up the soil, eliminate the weeds, grubs, and fertilize the soil.

2.   We need to install electric fencing around the perimeter to keep them where they belong.

3.  We need to build a taller screened room over the pond.  (tilapia-protection)  The one that's in place now, keeps the birds out, but we can't get in very easy to see how the fish population is doing and/or to net some for dinner.

So, after a trip to the local farm and hardware store, and packing of two vehicles to carry all of the materials and overnight bags we headed out to The Compound.  The weather was beautiful, but I'm sure the guys that did the heavy lifting would have liked cloudy 60 degree temperatures, rather than sunny and low 80's. 

They installed roughly 15ea 4x4x10, 14ea 2x4x10, fencing on three sides, buried an auto water hose, and dumped upwards of a hundred loads of gravel to create a walkway all around the pond.   They repaired the overflow drainage from the pond, that will fill in the pig wallows and when that's filled, the water will drain out to the swamp.  It's easily summed up in a paragraph, but trust me, it took all the energy they had to get the holes dug, rocks shoveled, wheelbarrow loads moved, nails hammered, etc.

We had bags of compost and top soil along the edge of the pond holding the orange fencing material in place so critters wouldn't crawl underneath, and those bags have grown weeds and broken open. (I thought compost didn't have weed seeds, or they were killed through the composting process?) Those were pulled out of the way and dumped in the pig run.  They'll rut through them eating the weeds, and I'll go back later and collect the plastic remains.

The posts will eventually hold up the orange fencing material over the pond, and create a ceiling with plenty of room to maneuver inside.  The posts also hold the fencing that section off the garden for the pigs, which by the way, they were totally excited about their new space!  They couldn't eat the pickers (sticker plants) and weeds fast enough! 

 

Work is so rewarding, when you can see how happy the animals are!  Still no electric fence, and I'm sure they won't be happy when that's finally installed.  I'll just have to bring them some extra treats!

 

So, in short order we'll have three projects completed.