(I am blogging the next few posts covering the last few weeks retrospectively, as connecting to the net hasn't been so easy!)
Arrived Bendigo, and straight onto the first job! Fresh off the train, we made a stop at a friend's property they were in the process of moving out of, in order to empty out and dismantle a corrogated tin raised garden bed. Bagging up the soil (have to love the versatility of reusing chook feed bags) and then removing the screws and it was soon an easy job to have it loaded up on the ute, followed by a cuppa, then off to see what my next wwoof property was like.
As relatively recent retirees, Judy and her husband "Crabby", are just settling into working a living from their property and have settled on raising heritage chickens as a cash earner. The start up work however is where WWOOFers come in handy. Ontop of an initial two pen areas where Judy has been getting her collection of birds started, plans are to build 6 new enclosures with a protected foraging/ communal area, plus dividing up one of the other pens to help seperate breeding stock. All this meant lots of post holes to dig and poles to concrete into place.
This was perhaps a great opportunity for me to build up the fitness again as well as restoring some upper body strength using crowbar and an auger into very clay soil with fortunately limited rocks! Very satisfying getting through each pen section to have all the poles "planted" and the wire going up around each. Also a good feeling of being a small part in a the excitment of an entrepeneurial venture.
I am really loving the sense of resource sharing in rural communities and the ways people tap into a bargin when they have such friendly relations with neighbours. Something that is lost, in my experience, within city life. The majority of the materials for the chook pens came from demolitions at another site, the water tanks were from a neighbour, the installation of a thermostat on the brooding box by an electrician friend of the family, etc etc. Sure the tanks needed a couple of hours work cleaning them out with a high pressure blast, but little things like that are essential to get this project up and running without breaking the bank.
When I wasn't planting poles, there was still plenty of other chores to keep busy with. There was the "new" raised bed to reassemble and to fill with plenty of composting matter so it can be ready for spring, turning the soil and mulching the existing veg garden, herb nursery maintenance, chook pen cleaning, painting tasks and firewood duties. Great to get back on a chainsaw again after almost 6 years.
Also lots to read again in the form of yabby farming books, Grass Roots and Aust Poultry magazines etc etc. Inspired a few changes to my skills list which I will try to update soon.
