Picketing Chickens



The majority of this weekend's work involved fencing in the upper vegetable garden.  In the past, it had produced fine corn, pumpkins and artichokes.  However, in recent years it's been invaded by gophers, who went to work chewing the roots off of most of the vegetables while ignoring the weeds.  The hens also took to excavating hen-sized holes in there and then jumping in to take long, luxurious dirt baths.  Last summer I threw in the towel and didn't bother planting anything at all.

Each pumpkin plant is planted in a wire mesh container to keep out gopher teeth.

We've spent the past few weekends reclaiming this garden by building a fence around it.  Actually, Bruce did most of the building, while I worked in new compost, weeded and planted corn and sunflower seed and pumpkin plants.  Bruce's got the pickets cut out so they travel right up against the cliff -- it looks so cute!

When we were finished late this afternoon, we were humbly pleased with what we'd created.












Max was satisfied with the new layout (especially once he discovered that he could squeeze between the pickets).

Then it was time for the final test: I loosed the hens.  At first they marched about, looking through the pickets into the garden that was no longer theirs. 












Three minutes later, the first triumphant hen (a white leghorn) was in -- she'd shinnied up the cliff and around the fence. 

OK, so we thought that this might happen, even as we hoped it wouldn't.  Plan B will be put into place: black netting to go from the ends of the picket fence all the way to the back fence on the top of the cliff.   Tomorrow. Or, perhaps, the day after tomorrow. 

It was a good sort of weekend.  I feel as prepared as I'll ever be for the hectic pace of the last two weeks of school.