Tacumshin is located on a virtual peninsula near Carnsore Point with winds blowing strongly from the east and the south at times. Fencing has to be strong and wind breaks take a battering unless posts are securely driven in.
In building a shelter for an outdoor cob oven this week, four wooden pillars had to be positioned and secured in the ground first. These 11 foot high and 1 foot square pillars of wood had to go down 3 foot before they could be securely cemented in place.
To the rescue came John Coleman and Sons, our friendly agricultural contractor from Piercestown up the road, complete with mini-digger on a low trailer. The digger had an augur attachment which pneumatically twisted its way through the soil creating a 3 foot deep borehole. A neat job quickly done – which saved me buckets of sweat! I’ll need that energy to manually drive in several dozen smaller 6 foot posts to which we will nail wind break mesh fabric alongside the vegetable and fruit beds before the winter winds come around again.
Trevor is co-founder and was, until his appointment to Government, a board member of Sonairte, the Irish National Ecology Centre, near Julianstown, County Meath which is an Agricultural Training and Visitor centre with a 2.2 acre walled organic garden. He is also a member of Amnesty International, the Dublin Food Co-op, the Irish Organic Farmers’ and Growers’ Association, Organic Trust and a former member of Macra na Feirme. A former teacher and fluent Irish speaker, he relaxes by reading, walking and playing music. His favourite form of relaxation is tending to his prolific organic garden at home in Balbriggan, North County Dublin, an area known by many as Fingal.
Source: Trevor Kitchen Garden – Learning To Drive In Wooden Posts By Machine And By Hand
