Behold: THE MUNTANISER

Farmer Wan's birthday present

After almost two years of making do without help from enormous, fossil fuel-guzzling pieces of equipment, we recently bowed to the inevitable and acquired a tractor. 

It goes against my permaculture sensibilities, I admit, but the bottom line is that Muntanui is a 25-hectare (61 acre) property -- smaller than your average farm but a lot bigger than your average lifestyle block. If we're ever going to tackle big projects like regenerating our pasture, we'll need a lot of help. Neither of us has experience with draft horses and/or bullock teams and we don't have time to learn. 

Enter THE MUNTANISER.

A beast of a thing, isn't it? It arrived on the same day I flew down to Christchurch, ostensibly to spend time with my sister-in-law and niece but in reality to infect everyone inside a 10-kilometre radius with the worst sore throat in the entire history of throats. Farmer Wan would dutifully ring me at least once a day and I'd do my best to communicate with clicks and whistles and the occasional shriek. I needn't have bothered, really, because the conversation generally went like this:

FARMER WAN: How are you?
FARMER NIK: (struggling to make a sound)
FARMER WAN: I started it up today and sat in the cab while it was running.
FARMER NIK: (fizzing noise)

Or this, from Day Seven:
FARMER WAN: How are you?
FARMER NIK: (croaks)
FARMER WAN: Today I drove it down the driveway and then I turned it around and drove it back.
FARMER NIK: (gulping sounds)

It's almost embarrassing, the depth of his infatuation with this monstrosity, but I can live with it because I know it will make his work a heck of a lot easier, Muntanui will benefit and we'll both be happy as a result. That means more to me than anything the Permaculture Police might have to say on the subject. So, roll on spring! Release THE MUNTANISER! New, improved pasture, here we come!

Posted by Farmer Nik