It’s now 17 years since we came back to Australia from the U.S. in 2004 and we have done a fair bit in that time. We have rented twice, owned two homes outright including this place, and have been retired for about 8 years. September this year is cold and wet, similar to when we came from weeks of very hot weather in Texas in 2004. The weather is not actually that bad when the sun is out, and I’d much rather be here in Tasmania where we don’t have to put up with a lot of hot weather. Still I wish it would dry out a bit so I could do some mowing in the back paddock. I’ve been firing up the ride on mower now and again just to keep the battery charged and make sure everything is working OK.
I’ve finally gotten off my arse and started on a new chicken pen so that we can start using the vegetable garden again. I’m fencing off an area about 25mx15m in the corner next to the back paddock gate to take advantage of the existing fences. Initially I will just drag the small chicken coop up there but will eventually build a new, larger one.
To save a bit of money, I bought 30 second hand treated posts from a guy that is ripping out part of an old orchard, as well as a couple of apple crates to use for the new coop, and a bunch of the wire that was used to support the espaliered fruit trees. I have a few second hand metal stakes, and bought some more from Bunnings, as well as a wire tensioner and post driver. I got a 100m roll of heavy duty fence mesh and a few other supplies from the Exeter Farm and Feed store. So far I have most of the treated posts in the ground, I just need to unravel a bit of the wire to string up so I can attach the mesh.
I’ve finally gotten off my arse and started on a new chicken pen so that we can start using the vegetable garden again. I’m fencing off an area about 25mx15m in the corner next to the back paddock gate to take advantage of the existing fences. Initially I will just drag the small chicken coop up there but will eventually build a new, larger one.
To save a bit of money, I bought 30 second hand treated posts from a guy that is ripping out part of an old orchard, as well as a couple of apple crates to use for the new coop, and a bunch of the wire that was used to support the espaliered fruit trees. I have a few second hand metal stakes, and bought some more from Bunnings, as well as a wire tensioner and post driver. I got a 100m roll of heavy duty fence mesh and a few other supplies from the Exeter Farm and Feed store. So far I have most of the treated posts in the ground, I just need to unravel a bit of the wire to string up so I can attach the mesh.
One of the apple crates had some extra bits of wire with old “Gripples” still attached. These can be used for re-tensioning wire but you do need a special tool for that, even though you could probably use the wire tensioner to get the two bits very tight and then put the gripple in. There are worth anything from $2.50 to $4.00 new, and are reusable, there could be about 75 or more in the box and so far I have removed about 20. I may use these but will probably just tie off the wires. I’ve been watching a lot of stuff from Tim Thompson who is a fencing expert. I’m getting a lot of ideas and knowledge which will be useful for this project as well as fixing up some of the other fencing on the property. I will definitely be able to use a lot of the wire and extra posts, and can get a builders pack of 10 metal pickets for $69 so should be good to go.