Fence and Gate

Corner posts waiting for a shave

It's April 1 and we are putting up the fence around the perimeter. At first I considered going with an electric fence, since no rigid fence shy of eight feet tall will keep out the deer. Amazing writer-homesteader Will Bonsall suggests in his book, The Radical, Self-Reliant Gardener that deer will learn to avoid a single-strand of electric fence if (skip the rest of this paragraph, Mama) it is festooned with strips of peanut-butter-and-jelly-coated tinfoil. Even I can feel that effect on my tongue right now, and I'm nowhere near a wire!
     It seems like that would work, and Will is such a smart man I'll believe anything he's written. But what about the woodchuck? Or rabbits? And hasn't our 5' fence so far kept marauders out of our vegetable garden, maybe simply because deer would rather not feed in an enclosed area unless there is nothing else to eat? A charger strong enough to get deer to listen is $70 at the feed store. Then I'll need wire or tape (another $8-$16), a ground pole ($18) and a bag of insulators ($4). For a single strand fence, it's a tiny bit cheaper to fence electrically than with welded 5' fence. But how much energy will it cost to run the fence? I'd rather not be feeding it fossil-fuel-generated juice at an unknown cost for the full season in order to get a few tutorial jolts in return. A solar fence charger built to generate a sizeable-enough charge is over $100, and will also require a new rechargeable battery ($50) to keep it going long-term. However, a single- or double-strand electric fence would be easier to mow the perimeter of, and it would also, when turned off, allow access to the edge plantings from outside the fence, so in essence it would make the space more user-friendly and the useable space a little larger.

Fencing and a gate

   I decide to go with the 5' fence as the ecological, cheaper-in-the-long-run choice. I can always add extra gimmicks at the top and bottom if it doesn't do its job well enough. Meanwhile, I will not accidentally zap my dog, the neighbor's dog, the neighbor's kids, or myself. Or, for that matter, any deer, Mama. 
     The Patient Spouse talks me into buying 3 50' rolls to get the job all done right. He has also built that nice gate laying on the grass in the background: 5' X 4', two layers of scrap wood from a failed attempt to build an aftermarket greenhouse, with a layer of fencing sandwiched between them. It will require locust posts for a gate, (strap hinges on the gate side, square hinges on the post side which is curved). He also suggests we put locust posts at the corners for extra stability. The rest of the posts will be T-posts salvaged from around the property.  It will be about $150 to fence this spot, with free posts from the family farm.
    Step one is to take all the bark off the two gate posts, and peel the ends of the other posts two feet up, so the buried bark won't rot and loosen the post after it is set. Pictured above are the first three posts and  the ancestral draw shave used to peel them in long, smooth strokes. The wood is green, the blade is sharp, and those details make it so much easier than trying to peel seasoned locust. Pounding in the fence staples on green wood is also easier, and anything that makes those little buggers go in easier is fine by me.
    Also in this top picture notice my product endorsements for hot, cheap, home brewed coffee wherever you go, from a 100% plastic-free thermal cup that doesn't burn your lip or store old coffee smell. It keeps me running; thank you, gifters Krin and Dan. Also, my leather gloves, which were once a serene turquoise blue and had that lovely Martha Stewart design sense, back when Marth was still making homemaking beautiful for average people. I bought them as a splurge about 12 years ago or more, and they're still my favorite non-insulated protection when I wear gloves, which isn't all that often. Fencing is a good time to have gloves on. So is sod stripping. The rest of the time, I'd rather have my fingers in the dirt. Feeling is the first way of knowing. Bloom where you are...