Subdividing the South Pasture: Setting the First Post

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Edmund contracted to dig the hole for the first fence post for the south pasture. Schedules have been hectic, so we were not able to get together to put the post in, and also, we didn’t have the 16 foot gate to measure the post location with. We had to wait for money from sales to replenish our farm account. But finally, on July 3rd, we had everything ready.

First step was to move the gate into place.

With a little help.

This gate has a tricky set-up. It is meant to be able to latch to the posts on each side of the gate to the pasture, so chickens can be directed left or right when they come out of the chicken yard. This is the first step to getting the chickens onto something like a rotating paddock, to reduce the amount of ground they are moonscaping. We also need it to be able to swing all the way open against the center fence so it is out of the way to drive trucks or animals through.

All of this means that the post has to be set very precisely. Because the surveyor (Ryan) was not very good at it, Edmunds hole was not exactly where it needed to be.

So we had to chisel one corner of it out.

Fortunately, because Edmund had already done the hard work of drilling the hole, chiseling one side was super easy, and only took about 20 minutes.

It’s easy when you have somewhere for the dirt to fall into.

Now the post will sit exactly where it needs to be.

And then it took about 30 minutes or so to get it filled in. However, the soil here is very sandy and “fluffy.” It will take a long time to settle, especially without any rain during the summer. We will not be stretching a fence off of it for at least 5 months.