3. Source Clay (First Site)

The First Site

Well, there was no holding me back now.  It was time to source the clay.

I the location of some excellent clay.  I had found it digging post holes for the chook shed.  After 12 years of chook poo, it seemed unlikely that this clay would be suitable for food preparation.  So I started digging about four metres from that earlier site.  This was not an optimal location, as it was in the middle of an existing garden bed, with established shrubs and groundcover.  I had also added a substantial amount of top-soil many years earlier to establish the garden bed.  Never mind.  Just a little bit of digging.

Clay from the First Site

We had had a wet summer, so I was pretty sure the ground would not be rock hard.  Sadly it did not appear that they water had penetrated far.  I removed the plants and top soil and failed irrigation lines.  Then I found the clay.  It was nice and solid, and much denser than the soil I'd been moving.  Sadly it seemed to be in veins rather than a single mass.  I followed these veins, lifting out one and a half barrow loads.

It was great to have this job done.  It had been much harder than I expected.

...Geoff the Digger