Just A Couple Of Pig Pens

Pens for piglets?  Nope.  Just a couple of really dirty, dusty people.  That would be me and Papa Pea.

We've had a chipper/shredder on our wish and want list for some time.  But we wanted a good one that would be substantial enough to . . . well, do a really good job of chipping and/or shredding.

Our good neighbor has also been thinking about getting one of these handy-dandy machines and a few months ago suggested Papa Pea pick out one he thought would do a good job for what we both needed, and we would split the cost and share the machine.

Before any decision was made, Good Neighbor happened to hear about one in the area that had been purchased new about ten years ago, used only once or twice, and stored since then.  Being very knowledgeable regarding nearly any and all kinds of machinery, he checked into this particular chipper/shredder and was pleased with the shape it was in and the price it could be purchased for.  He brought it home on a trial basis and you can guess the happy ending to the story.  We are now the half owners of one really nice chipper/shredder.

Today Papa Pea and I started using it to work through a pile of brush and birch bark we've accumulated in our back wood working area.  The machine is loud so we outfitted ourselves with ear protection along with goggles because the occasional piece of wood debris can come flying in one's direction.  The operation also creates a lot of wood dust which ends up in your hair, on your clothing and any exposed skin.

When we finished this afternoon and were walking back toward the house, I reminded hubby that neither of us could even think about sitting on a piece of upholstered furniture in the house until we changed clothes and showered.  (We did brush each other off with the a bench brush before coming inside to get a drink of water.)

After that little bit of refreshment, Papa Pea went back out to clean up the machine before returning it to Good Neighbor's shed where it's stored, and I went out into the blueberry patch to spread the chipped up product.

I've had more of a problem than usual this year with weeds growing in the blueberry patch, and I think it's because I didn't use as much peat moss for mulch as I usually do.  Peat moss isn't cheap, so we have been talking about using some other kind of mulch.  So that's where the material we created today with the chipper/shredder went.

The light colored material you see in the background by the raspberries is old straw I used for mulch there.  The light colored material in the foreground in between the blueberry bushes is the chipped and shredded material I spread (heavily) today.

I still need a lot more for the whole patch, but we got a good start on the project.  It's looking like it will do the trick, and I may never have to buy peat moss again!

No guarantees we won't have to take extra showers though to get rid of the wood dust.  Otherwise, I'm sure we'll be walking around doing a good imitation of Charles Shulz's Pigpen.