The Fence

Shortly after we moved to our new farmette, Donna and I decided we needed to fence off a small plot to build a chicken coop. We purchased some materials to build a fence for the chicken outdoor area. We laid out the yard and located the places to dig our fence posts. We became completely exhausted after digging only several fencepost holes. As we started to dig our next posthole, our shoulders announced, with severe reverberations, the presence of a “small” rock about six inches down in the dirt. After several blows of a rock bar, we had sore elbows and shoulders from the vibration, but no luck in breaking through the “small” rock. We tried digging around the stone to pry it out. At this time, we found out the true size of the stone. It was very large and connected to China, we were sure. Relocating the fence posts and cutting new lengths of fence were our only option as we did not want to relocate the boulder.

While we were deciding what to do, our neighbor walked over to chat. We explained our dilemma. With a sigh and look you see on the faces of adults about to explain some well known fact to a child, he demonstrated the proper way to dig and set a fence post. He poured some water on the dry, hard ground and waited several minutes. When he started to dig, the posthole digger sank deep into the soft earth. Our mouths hung open at the simplicity of this strategy. When the hole was the proper depth, he put the fence post into the hole. Then, pushing a bag of cement near the hole, he hit the end of the bag with the shovel edge and tore the bag open. The cement poured into the hole and he lifted the bag to complete the filling. Removing the bag, he then took the garden hose and wet the cement until it was fairly stiff. With the rock bar, he mixed the cement in the hole and announced he was finished with this hole and moved to the next.

After this we put in fence posts at three per hour instead of three per day. By using the fastest method possible we were able to get some work done. Putting up a fence turned out to be a great way to find the largest boulder on our property. With this new knowledge of fencepost erection, we were able to relocate all the fence posts in short order and avoided moving the boulder.