After 15 months without a Wwoofer, Andre from France comes for a week. Not only is he keen and hardworking but he comes with a car full of tools and a keenness to use them. So it was time for those projects that required two people and some skills in using hammers and screws etc. My new orchard for dwarf apples, pears and cherries has been planted with the trees, had posts and rails fitted for the cage and tin dug in and screwed on.
The tricky part is to put up the wire on the walls by myself. So with Andre in residence in our retro caravan it was time to tackle this job. First we rolled out the wire on one side and then hung it up on partially screwed in roofing screws. Then we rolled out the next side until we had it loosely placed on three sides. We stretched it tighter and overlapped the corners. Due to the fact that the orchard is sloping downhill and the posts are upright there was a flap in each bottom corner that had to be cut and secured to the post with staples.
It came up well and looks smooth and secure.
Next we concreted the door sill. The plan is to keep some guinea pigs in the orchard once it is caged. It is important that no animal can dig its way in or out. The door is recycled from an old shearing shed so it has a solid metal sheet on one side. This will help keep the dogs from looking in and salivating over the guinea pigs. Only the roof to go before it is a protected space for the trees to grow away from the parrots and the cockatoos.
The final job for Andre and I was to build a fence across one of the chook pens - effectively halving the space but making a new pen. By using extra long star pickets and an old stay to support the door jamb it only meant one major hole to dig - for the post in the middle. Now I just have to build a new chookhouse and a separate flock can be established.
Oh for a WWoofer when there are projects to be done. A big thank you to Andre who was a very helpful and competent assistant as well as a pleasure to spend time with.
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