New Fence Posts
Jun 9th 2008andyconstruction & wwoof & self-sufficiency & quinta
We have been very busy, especially Oli and Kirsten our wwoofing volunteers, putting in new fence posts and electric fence for the horse terraces. These treated posts arent cheap, but are very easy to put in with a ‘post whacker’ (which don’t seem available in Portugal), and should be good for at least 10 years. So far we have put in about 200, including some thin ones in the gardens as support for beans and tomatoes, and along the edge of terraces to make new vine trellises with wire. The terraces that the horses originally had is now completely fenced. I guess we’ll need another 200 posts before we’ve finished the vines and the terraces that we bought last year.
Daan (age 24) grazing in the newly fenced zone:
Kristen happily collecting horse manure in the midday sun:
We have also done a lot of work on the kitchen caravan area. Vine posts are in, just waiting for the wire to be attached. Henrique and Oli built a new table for visitors and guests, using some of our eucalyptus trees and a few bought planks of wood. Several recent wwoofers rebuilt the steps up to the mongolian yurt, and a rope handrail has been added. Toivo, a neighbour has done some work for us, replacing the floor in the kitchen caravan with tongue and groove. Its all coming along very well, with facilities over on that side of our land much improved.
And finally, here a picture to convey just how many seedlings we are still growing to put in the garden. There are still maybe a dozen trays up on the balcony too, which I am moving down to this area, now that the weather is drier and slugs & snails are less active. In these trays we have all sorts, from monkey puzzle trees, alder, jatropha, silver birch and paulownia trees to okra, courgettes, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, oca, butternut squash and moonflower plants. Plus much much more. As well as growing the normal and unusual annuals, we are germinating a lot of perennials that will require less work, although our diets may need to change somewhat when we start harvesting these.
I have bought Plants for a Future database of medicinal and edibal plants. Its searchable, and i intend to try to acquire as many of the plants that are rated 5 for edibility or medicine uses over the next year - and perhaps then collect seeds to make them available to others.
Plants for a Future website. A truly fantastic information resource for those seeking self sufficiency, edible diversity or to build a permaculture garden.
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