Resource Conservation--Don't Guess--Put It To The Test

Fence posts are very expensive. They hurt our program's bottom line. Waste of timber teaches the wrong lesson to program participants. I wish that every tree that is thinned out could have a use.

Last fall I thinned several 12-14 year old ash trees in a small break inaccessible to vehicles. The truck  could not get to where the trees were, but the donkeys could. The kids placed the poles on the sled that we made last year for my Scottish Highlands cattle and the donkey pulled the load up to the truck with ease. 

The next step was to remove the bark from each pole with draw knives.

The posts are then cut into shape and will be dried further over hot coals, without allowing them to ignite. The final step is to apply a coat of water repellant and then they are ready to use.

But won't these poles eventually rot and have to be replaced? Of course they will. However, last year I experimented with several poles using this system and was delighted to see no decomposition in the ash poles even though they actually spent the year laying in the mud and sunlight. 

The belief that every construction project must be forever unyielding to the elements is a peculiar aspect of modern suburbanite culture. Perhaps it is rooted in ancient Greek philosophies that held that only things that were not subject to change were "perfect" and that the proof of the imperfection of the human body was the fact that it changed with age.   More likely, it is an out growth of urban and suburban resentment of rural life and rural culture. 

The belief that a task is only done correctly if it is done in a manner that it will never have to be repeated is utterly alien to the cyclical nature of agricultural life. The stone castle, the marble temple, and the pyramid could only be created by cultures that had the hubris to believe that human creation could be eternal. The wattle fence, the log cabin, and the hand dug well were created to solve specific, immediate problems--the need to keep livestock in or out--the need for a warm, dry dwelling, or the need for a drink of water. They were not designed to shake a fist at the gods and demonstrate a mortal's ability to create something that could outlast time.

But at the same time, the story of the Three Little Pigs teaches that the structure must be sufficient to be functional for its purpose. And herein lies the point. Were the poles simply cut and put in the ground, bark on and untreated they would be subject to becoming rot weakened and breaking off at ground level in a season or two. However, by experimenting we have come on a system that will allow us to get several years use from each pole, thereby saving money and eliminating the waste of a resource. 

Will they last as long as commercial fence posts? No they will not. However, they will last several years. We cannot allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good. 

Look around you. The good already has a plenty of enemies.