Hello from the farm,
What's big, red and eats rocks?
A big red rock eater. Duh!
It was one of those wonderfully ridiculous riddles from a book I had as a child. I didn't realise that one day I would own a farm and discover that a big red rock eater would actually be quite useful. Because Eagles Range grows rocks exceptionally well.
This week has been all about removing rocks so that we can plant our peonies. Well I'm not removing the rocks, but Fred Flintstone is; he spends a surprising amount of time moving rocks from one part of the property to another, only for me to later decide they would look excellent as a wall, garden edge or landscaping feature. At which point he moves them again.
Every time we prepare another area for flowers, Christmas trees or pasture, we uncover a fresh crop of rocks. Some require a lengthy discussion about whether they are actually attached to the centre of the earth. Some require machinery, so we use our big pink and grey rock eater (AKA a Takeuchi excavator with a rock breaker attached).
We may not be growing many flowers yet, but we're certainly growing a very impressive rock pile. I have a feeling it will come in handy one day. If only we had time to make things out of it.
