This doesn't look like easy work; it's thick with thorns, small stumps, rocks, and weeds. With a combination of tools, the Goat Busters blazed much of the border within a couple of hours. After they left for the day, Erika and I took a walk up to the field and had a look.
The "top o' the prop," as we sometimes refer to it, is equipped with two camping chairs and a table made from two oak post scraps with a slab of soapstone layed across them. The elevated spot slopes southeast and provides a nice view of the blue ridge mountains, and in the winter time, some lights in town. We enjoy sitting up there, spotting birds, having a glass of wine, just enjoying the environment...sometimes discussing the little strawbale cottage that we'd like to build here or how we might expand our veggie operation one day. It was really cool to see how this field will be temporarily fenced in and imagine how the herd of goats will eat down and fertilize the area, which is now totally overgrown with summer.
A few days later, Jace and Scott were back at it, actually installing the fence. The electric fence looks like white netting, about three feet high. They set fiberglass stakes every so many feet and the fence clips on to them. It occurred to me later that they might have had some trouble setting the stakes; we know first-hand how rocky our place is. Jace, always the optimist, said "now I know I don't have the rockiest soil in Nelson County!"
They finished setting up the fence, but it was getting darker. Jace thought that, if he hurried, he might be able to get the goats up there that night, but as it turned out, time ran out for the evening. Darkness settled in and the screech owls started to call.
- John
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