Since the shed was getting too perilous to continue to rip away, I decided to deconstruct a kinder, gentler item. The straw hay bales from winter's past. These are supposed to be taken apart every year and clearly it's a couple of years behind. The reason it's important to take them apart is because if left to their own devices, these things will hang around for years. Eventually they will give birth to their own little ecosystem complete with mushrooms, lizards, giant bugs and several creative varieties of mold. You can see the one on the right has started to sprout grass. Did I also mention how much they stink when they get wet.
The best part is that once you start peeling away the layers you unleash a veritable buffet of seeds, sprouts and other crawly creatures that make the birds swarm it in a feeding frenzy. Birds are awesome that way!
The bales weigh roughly 400 pounds (probably more if you include water saturation) so you can't just roll them away. You have to methodically break it down with a pitchfork, load it into a wheelbarrow (load size directly dependent on your strength) one stinky load at a time and dump it over there....see...along the fence row. The good news is that you will burn a lot of calories on this project.
The best part is that once you start peeling away the layers you unleash a veritable buffet of seeds, sprouts and other crawly creatures that make the birds swarm it in a feeding frenzy. Birds are awesome that way!
The bales weigh roughly 400 pounds (probably more if you include water saturation) so you can't just roll them away. You have to methodically break it down with a pitchfork, load it into a wheelbarrow (load size directly dependent on your strength) one stinky load at a time and dump it over there....see...along the fence row. The good news is that you will burn a lot of calories on this project.
Luckily, I had an eager and willing helper.
Who was no help at all. Pretty Pony decided to break out the "naughty pony" routine and kept kicking over the wheelbarrow. This was only cute the first two times, then I moved it against the hay ring so she couldn't tip it. She proceeded to chew the wooden handles instead. She's got a terrible work ethic, this horse.
Oh well, I guess it's time for a pony play break!
Oh well, I guess it's time for a pony play break!