Cutting the trees down was the easy part

The clean up that follows downing some trees is the time consuming part of the program. Already the trees had been cut up into various lengths. This morning foliage was stacked ready for mulching and chipping and the firewood sized pieces carried up to the wood pile and stacked. The trees downed behind the water tanks were just too far away from the wood pile to do entirely by hand but have had the foliage stacked and tomorrow the firewood will be brought up with the tractor and trailer.

A view from the south of the water storage facility. 4 concrete tanks totalling 100,000 litres.

To make room for storing the new firewood the previous seasons wood had to be removed. The larger pieces had already been cut to size with the chainsaw but the rest had to be processed before it was stored in the firewood shelter. The quickest and easiest way was to carry the light weight saw bench up to the wood pile and suitably dressed in protective clothing cut each to length.

Triton saw bench

As soon as a chain saw or saw bench is started the chooks run over. They love scratching about for what ever falls out of the bark form the aged pieces of wood.

It is always satisfying to think that nothing was wasted from the tree felling operation. Wood for the fire and mulch for the garden which will in turn reduce our watering requirement.

After a few hours paid work across the river harrowing paddocks and trying to finish off a piece of fencing that has been started but constantly put to one side as other priorities intervene.

It was after 4 before we arrived back home and commenced the afternoon chores. I made a quick pass through the vineyard to inspect the vines progress. They are still bud bursting and setting flower but the bulk have finished and there were very little pruning of excess bunches needed on this pass. It was surprising to see how quickly the bunches which flowered earlier have grown.



One of the early bunches with a rose in the background. Despite what is generally said the roses are only there for show.