Back in August, I got word that I and a few other gardeners along the edge would be losing some of our plots. Apparently, the head of the garden asked the county why they haven't been mowing around the perimeter, and the county responded that they couldn't get their mower along it, because we've built gardens to within 5 feet of the treeline. From what I've overheard, they originally wanted a 30' space along the edge, but since that would mean many of the gardens would be cut back to only 10' wide, the head gardener negotiated for a 20' easement.
At the beginning of October, I decided that enough of my crops had been harvested that it was safe to take the deer fence down and start merging the plots. In an attempt to hide the horrible weed-infested horribleness, I'd planted morning glories along the fence. They were doing quite well, but unfortunately, they had to go. So on the first weekend of the month, I did a bit of weeding, took down the bamboo, and took out the morning glories. Next step: the other plot.
As you can see, there was a lot of work to be done. I hadn't seen the gardener of this plot since May, and the thistle, crabgrass, and other weeds had had a field day. The beds were loosely held together with 1/2" L-brackets that offered no stability, so they all got taken apart. It took two days to pull up all the beds, take down the fence (which was unfinished metal and wired to the posts), and stack everything together One of my co-workers who loves gardening came out and helped with the weed-pulling, but we couldn't get everything.
For some reason, the former gardener had tried to level out the plot in one big terrace (where I did three), which meant that the top of it was 8" below the pathway, and the bottom had dirt piled about a foot taller than the grass. Since the fence was horrible done and tilted like a drunkard, this meant that the grass near the fence never got mowed, and was now full of weeds and flopping into the plot. I pulled up the worst of the posts, leaving one or two to mark the edges, and waited for the tiller to make it all even.
Tilling Day! My gentleman's parents were kind enough to come out with their tiller and weed whacker and give me a clean slate to work with (nevermind all the weed roots we just chopped up). We found a number of very, very large rocks, but fortunately, none of them broke the tractor, and we got lots of exercise. After a couple passes, I now had something that looked more like a garden than a wasteland. It took nearly four hours to pull everything out of the area, till it, weed-whack, put fence posts in correctly (dodging more rocks), and hang the new fence.
Now, I'm not saying the new fence is fantastic just yet, but it seems to have kept the deer out. There was still the 8" drop-off to deal with in the front, but after 4 hours, I was beat. We piled everything back in the new combined plot, and called it a day. I meant to go back out during the week to clean up a few things, but between steady rainfall, and the physical consequences of working four hours straight on tilling day, I never did get back out.
A few rabbits did get in and nibble my tomatoes, but they're mostly done anyway. It's getting cold enough at nights that things are slowing way down. Unfortunately, I was also unable to get a temporary fence up around my raspberry plants, which were in the lower tier (that I lost), and the deer stripped those down to the stem. Leaves, berries, flowers- everything's gone. I'm a little ticked about that, but not terribly surprised.
Today, I was able to go out and keep working on the new area. I got the boards set up around the base of the fence, which means once I put pegs in for support and backfill them, I can staple the fence to the boards and keep those dang rabbits out. It also means that the mowers will be able to get right up along the fence line without fear of losing a tire. I dug in the bed at the very farthest end of the new plot, which will be filled with blueberry bushes as soon as they go dormant, and started to lay out the other beds, only to realize they're not the same size. The biggest one will be broken down to make angled beds along the back fence. The terrace will be extended out almost to the edge, and more mulch will be placed between the beds to keep the weeds down. I'm debating making a little lean-to along the front to store my tools in out of the rain, but we'll see. For now, I have plenty to do before the snow flies and the ground freezes.
Is it perfect? No. Most of the boards lining the fence aren't level, some are different sizes, and none of them are in a truly straight line. However, I've gotten a lot compliments on it, and the amount of food produced this past year was amazing, even if most of it got passed on to coworkers and friends. I've learned a lot of lessons on what, where, and how much of each to plant, and have had an enormous amount of exercise, quiet time, and enjoyment out in the garden. Here's to next year being just as great!
What does that mean? The plot that I spent so much time on this year is losing 1/3 of its area. I'm gaining that and a little more back, however, as I was allowed to take over the much smaller plot next to me that had been abandoned since May. That's not quite as fun as it sounds, because the entire plot was knee-high in weeds, strewn with rusty broken garden implements, thoroughly rocky, and had gaps in the fence that a human could easily get through, but I still accepted. Partly because I want the space, and partly because it means I don't share any fences now. There are walkways on two sides of my plot, and forest/grass strips on the other two. Suits me just fine.
At the beginning of October, I decided that enough of my crops had been harvested that it was safe to take the deer fence down and start merging the plots. In an attempt to hide the horrible weed-infested horribleness, I'd planted morning glories along the fence. They were doing quite well, but unfortunately, they had to go. So on the first weekend of the month, I did a bit of weeding, took down the bamboo, and took out the morning glories. Next step: the other plot.
As you can see, there was a lot of work to be done. I hadn't seen the gardener of this plot since May, and the thistle, crabgrass, and other weeds had had a field day. The beds were loosely held together with 1/2" L-brackets that offered no stability, so they all got taken apart. It took two days to pull up all the beds, take down the fence (which was unfinished metal and wired to the posts), and stack everything together One of my co-workers who loves gardening came out and helped with the weed-pulling, but we couldn't get everything.For some reason, the former gardener had tried to level out the plot in one big terrace (where I did three), which meant that the top of it was 8" below the pathway, and the bottom had dirt piled about a foot taller than the grass. Since the fence was horrible done and tilted like a drunkard, this meant that the grass near the fence never got mowed, and was now full of weeds and flopping into the plot. I pulled up the worst of the posts, leaving one or two to mark the edges, and waited for the tiller to make it all even.
Tilling Day! My gentleman's parents were kind enough to come out with their tiller and weed whacker and give me a clean slate to work with (nevermind all the weed roots we just chopped up). We found a number of very, very large rocks, but fortunately, none of them broke the tractor, and we got lots of exercise. After a couple passes, I now had something that looked more like a garden than a wasteland. It took nearly four hours to pull everything out of the area, till it, weed-whack, put fence posts in correctly (dodging more rocks), and hang the new fence.Now, I'm not saying the new fence is fantastic just yet, but it seems to have kept the deer out. There was still the 8" drop-off to deal with in the front, but after 4 hours, I was beat. We piled everything back in the new combined plot, and called it a day. I meant to go back out during the week to clean up a few things, but between steady rainfall, and the physical consequences of working four hours straight on tilling day, I never did get back out.
A few rabbits did get in and nibble my tomatoes, but they're mostly done anyway. It's getting cold enough at nights that things are slowing way down. Unfortunately, I was also unable to get a temporary fence up around my raspberry plants, which were in the lower tier (that I lost), and the deer stripped those down to the stem. Leaves, berries, flowers- everything's gone. I'm a little ticked about that, but not terribly surprised.
Today, I was able to go out and keep working on the new area. I got the boards set up around the base of the fence, which means once I put pegs in for support and backfill them, I can staple the fence to the boards and keep those dang rabbits out. It also means that the mowers will be able to get right up along the fence line without fear of losing a tire. I dug in the bed at the very farthest end of the new plot, which will be filled with blueberry bushes as soon as they go dormant, and started to lay out the other beds, only to realize they're not the same size. The biggest one will be broken down to make angled beds along the back fence. The terrace will be extended out almost to the edge, and more mulch will be placed between the beds to keep the weeds down. I'm debating making a little lean-to along the front to store my tools in out of the rain, but we'll see. For now, I have plenty to do before the snow flies and the ground freezes.Is it perfect? No. Most of the boards lining the fence aren't level, some are different sizes, and none of them are in a truly straight line. However, I've gotten a lot compliments on it, and the amount of food produced this past year was amazing, even if most of it got passed on to coworkers and friends. I've learned a lot of lessons on what, where, and how much of each to plant, and have had an enormous amount of exercise, quiet time, and enjoyment out in the garden. Here's to next year being just as great!
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