Deer fence and gate are up

With some great volunteer help, we got a ton of work done this afternoon, including putting up trellises for the tomatoes and beans and getting the water tank up and running. The biggest improvement is the addition of the deer fence. It consists of an outer ring of fishing line, which runs at three different heights. The inner ring is a twine rope about 3 feet off the ground. This post from last year explains the reasoning behind it. We didn't have any deer damage after it went up so we're trying it again.

To enter the garden, you will now need to use the gate. One side is a metal post, the other is a wooden post. The wooden post is anchored to a metal post with two pieces of twine. Lift the twine loop off the top and untie the twine at the bottom. You can then lay the gate down on the ground to enter the garden. The string that makes up the inner ring ring can also be lifted up in the section right in from of the gate. Each end is a loop, so just lift one off.

Please make sure you put the twine and gate back up before you leave. Also, use caution in walking around the garden, it is getting more crowded and you will need to keep an eye out for the fence.

Here are the latest pictures:

This one shows the fence. There are blue flags tied to the fishing line to draw your attention to it.

This shows the community side of the garden. The trellises are in and everything is mulched.

This is the individual/family side of the garden. After this Friday, it should all be filled in.

Caution!: New fence and gate

The title might seem a little dramatic, but I really do encourage caution when approaching the garden. I have put up the first row of fishing line on the outer fence around the garden. The fishing line is very difficult to see until you get very close. The idea is that deer will bump into the fishing line and feel nervous about jumping over. There is also an inner fence with a visible row of twine which creates an optical problem for deer trying to figure out how far to jump. There were lots of deer prints visible last night, so I'm glad to get the fence started.

The only safe way to access the garden is the new gate which is on the the west end of the garden. It is really the old gate that provided access to the pea patch. The right side is a metal fence post and the left side is a wooden post that is attached with two pieces of twine to another metal fence post. To access the garden, simply untie the twine and lay the gate down.

Of course, it is very important to put the gate back up when you are finished. Just use a knot that is easy to untie for the next person. In this case below, I just used a bow knot.

As a bonus, here is a look at the new black plastic to keep the weeds off of the ends of the rows. While no one donated any new straw, I found an old mound of straw and borrowed some to create a little traction for walking on it. There is still a lot of mulching to do, but I'll save that for another post.