Halloween fell on a Friday this year, and Daddy had the day off work. Since we were planning on going up to Enumclaw around lunch time, Daddy decided to get to the farm early and get in a few hours of work before that.
So after feeding the animals, I got right to work in the south pasture.
5:18 AM.
6:10 AM. This hole is a bit different than the ones twelve and twenty feet to the right (west) of it. Here we have only about a foot of top soil before it transitions to the pale, dry silty dirt, and then at about 2.5 feet it transitions to a highly compact hardpan. The other holes had about 18 inches of top soil, roots down to 2 feet, and the hard pan didn’t start until below the 3 foot mark. In the westernmost fence anchors, next to the chicken yard, the the soil is all sandy and there is no hardpan to speak of above 4 feet.
This is one of the three posts in the pasture where placement is absolutely critical. This gap will eventually hold a 12 foot gate. While the gate has some fudge room based on how deeply you do or do not thread the hinge pins, the strongest gates have the shortest hinge pins. That is, you want the hinges practically resting on the post, and on the other end you want the tongue to clear the post by about half an inch to leave room for the gate latch. I measured the best of the gates in the north pasture, and it was exactly 144 1/2″.
Plumbed and trued this post to exactly 144 3/8 inch gap. Because we just aren’t that perfect.
Speaking of not that perfect, there was a southerly wind the day we put the flags out, apparently. On a dead flat morning, coming plumb off the line it is clear that the original marks are off by about 6-8 inches. I suspect that’s because when we set the flags the wind was from the south (as it often is) and was pushing the line to the north.
That’s why the first hole of the morning was off the line and had to be adjusted after it was already at depth.
Almost two hours in, sunrise is coming.
And, indeed has arrived.
About 8:00 AM. We now have two fence anchors with a twelve foot gap in the middle of the field.
Now on to the next job.
Little Farm in the Big City 