To start with I have rocks in my head. This is not really news for those who know me: my personality quite resembles that comment. However, at this particular time it would be more accurate to say I have Bush Rocks in my head.
About six months ago I started to think about how we could continue to de-rock our paddocks to improve the pasture. A time consuming and expensive job. We got a taste of it when our Farm Manager Fez high jacked Peter McDonald’s fencing tractor. Fez used his talents to clear up the camphor, lantanna and rock salad that surrounded our re-possessed shed. Initially I was happy with having them out of the way and in an accessible place to get rid of them. Then my friend Richie put me onto his rockwall artist John, who then paid a visit to our farm. John has built a magnificent outdoor fireplace in Richie’s backyard and I really liked the look of his work. When it came time for us to build a rock retaining wall we were not able to ‘retain’ John as he was flat chat busy. John, however, did put us onto his mate Mick who has become a regular on the Cromwell Farm.
Mick has gained legendary status with his abundance of energy, patience and passion for all things Rock. He has shared his skills with our crew: Homer, our farmhand, has taken to all aspects of rockwall building and is keen to take on bush rocks of all sizes. Our plan is to pick the rocks out of the paddocks in some sort of orderly fashion. Sort them based on size, shape and colour; put them on pallets for future use.
Here are a few pictures of our Bush Rock work over the last month.