Spring arrived and it was time for a GARDEN. Hoorah! The last item on the “independent living” checklist – a food source!
Lots of deer wandering around, looking for something to eat, so the first step is a fence. A deer fence.It has to be high so the deer can’t jump over it. 6′ is typical. Plus, the top of the fencing material has to be hard to see, i.e. don’t put 2×4 or anything the deer can see to judge the height. In the dark, if they can’t clearly see what they are jumping over, they won’t try.
Second, you need some wire mesh “hardware cloth” along the bottom to keep out chewing rodents who will eat right through the deer fence. I ordered the materials from Critterfence.com along with some special coated black wire rope from which to hang the deer fence.
I laid out my garden = 32′ x 64′. These are multiples of 8′ so every 8′ I dug a hole (gas powered fence post hole digger), leveled up the 8′ long 4×4’s and “planted” them with concrete. A lot of work but this rascal should last a very long time.
Now that it was enclosed, mostly, I added a gate. “Looking good, Billy Ray”.
Repurposing some old, pressure treated, 2×10″s torn off the bridge when we resurfaced it, I created some raised beds. From a local vendor, I purchased some “top soil” (fertilized included) and used that in the raised beds.
Putting down landscape fabric, covered with lots of wood ships, I created a 4′ “walkway”. Then left 4′ feet to be tilled, another “walkway”. Planted 31 sweet potato slips (really easy to grow), watermelon, pumpkins, squash, onions, and tomatoes from seed. Oh, three rows of corn.
Finally, using the nearby water “hydrant”, I added an irrigation system with a timer that watered the drip irrigated the garden every day for 45 minutes.
Lessons learned:
- Keep a diary with planting dates, varieties, map of plantings, etc.
- “Dilute” purchased top soil – too much nitrogen
- Spray for insects regularly
- A few fewer sweet potatoes!
Happy gardening!
Frank
Erywilde 