Refencing the Fruit Trees
Jen describes a major rework of our tree pens
Now that our young fruit trees are really establishing themselves, they are beginning to outgrow their fenced enclosures. In light of that, we spent a few days expanding them. The primary purpose of the fencing is to protect the trees from our hungry animals and neighbors' free-range cattle that will be wandering onto our property as the summer heat soaks up water on the surrounding land.
The first order of business was to disassemble the wire and fencing. Then we used the farm jack to remove the original four T-posts, which support the fencing around each tree. As soon as the tree lost its protective fencing, it was super vulnerable to our hungry sheep. If we got distracted, they didn't hesitate to sneak over and munch on some leaves, so some of us stood guard while others pounded more T-posts into the ground.
There were a few isolated trees whose pens were expanded from four posts to six. However, the majority of the fruit trees were so close together that it made more sense to create a giant fence around all of them. One advantage of doing this is that we now have another plot for planting food. Also, we can plant guilds around each tree, so that both the trees and plants will reap mutual benefits from each other's unique role in the garden.
Notes From Windward - Index - Vol. 68
|
|
