Tending Fences

"In appraising the future of a farm, fences were reckoned a prime necessity. Almanac after almanac starts the month of March with, 'Look to your fences.'"

Eric Sloane, The Seasons of America Past

Even if one doesn't follow the agrarian calendar, this time of year seems a natural fit for projects such as looking to one's fences. The planting and harvest seasons are just too busy! Early spring is a good time, because the weather is starting to get mild and it's a joy to be outdoors again after a long, cold winter.

If you've read my blog over the years, then you know we've had a terrible problem with old pine trees taking out our fences.

This is all in our woods, and we've patched the damage as best we could. There are enough of those trees still standing to make us wonder when it will be safe to replace the damaged fencing. Probably not this year, so this year we turned our attention to fencing repairs closer to the house.

The first project was the hedgerow we created four years ago in our front pasture (see "Forest Garden Hedgerow: Fenced, Gated, & Planting Begun"). Planting it was one of those one-step-forward-two-steps-back projects, because most of what I planted didn't survive. I chose drought resistant and heat tolerant species and did not pamper them but they struggled. I replanted pears, mulberries, chestnuts, and aronia several times. None of the flowers and herbs I planted made it. The survival rate was less than 50%, which isn't very encouraging, is it? We definitely don't want to give up, but this year we decided to narrow it.

Last summer.

It was so overgrown that Dan decided to remove the bottom fence to let the bucks graze it down first. It became their favorite girl watching position. It's apparently the best place to try and catch a glimpse of the does on the other side of the homestead.

Earlier this month.

They both ate it down and wore it down. Then we got to work. Dan pulled out the bottom t-posts.

Heavy-duty chain wrapped around both the t-post and
the tractor's drawbar make pulling them out a snap.

Then he reset them a little closer to the top fence. I planted the bare area with chicory, clover, and coneflower, and covered the seed with composted woodchips.

Now. We've found that board scraps from the sawmill
help reduce erosion until plant roots are established.

Now we wait and see! Eventually we may move the top fence in some too, but that's for another day.

The other end of the hedgerow was it's own kind of disaster.

Dan backed into the cattle panel with the tractor awhile back and pretty much trashed it. We had to think about what to do with this one. Originally I fenced in a wild rose bush here, but that old bush has pretty much quit producing. So we removed the bent panel and rerouted the existing panels. The fence now goes behind the bush. After the boys clear it out I'll removed all the dead wood.

Colby on brush trimming duty.

The next bit of fencework in this pasture is the front corner.

There used to be a tree and hedge of shrubs there, but these have been removed by the power company and our next door neighbors. This really shouldn't be a problem, but people walking up and down the road have taken to throwing things at our goats. I like for people to enjoy watching them, but I don't get why they want to throw golf balls, beer bottles, and soda cans at them. What's the matter with people?

We've talked about putting up a privacy fence on that side of the property for several years, and in fact bought a number of fence panels for that purpose. We have good neighbors now so there isn't the same sense of motivation to do this, but we would like that corner to not be exposed. That will be the next project of the tending fences list.

Tending Fences © March 2019 by Leigh 

at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

A Second Permaculture Hedgerow

Hedgerows are a really nice way to turn fencelines into productive areas. By planting them with various edibles, they provide food and shelter, plus look pretty. Eventually I'd like to establish edible hedgerows between all of our paddocks. Even though our first one has been slow to establish, it seemed like time to start on another one.

Detail from our Master Plan. (Blue is planned but not yet implemented).

This one will be a short one, between the two doe pastures. It's indicated in yellow above (see "Master Plan 2016" for the big picture).

I started with the existing fence and measured out three feet on either side from it. The finished hedgerow will be about six feet wide, which should allow for shrub growth plus access along it's entire length.

T-post pounder on top of one of the t-posts.

Dan usually sinks all the t-posts for our fencing with a manual t-post pounder. Since our fencing is four feet tall, the 6.5-foot t-posts are sunk about two and a half feet. He's 5' 9" and can just manage the height and weight required to do that. I'm 5' 5", and so needed a stepstool to get a little more height.

Because we've had plenty of rain, they were fairly easy to pound into the ground. Once they were all in, I wired cattle panels to the new posts. Cattle panels allow the goats to eat what's growing in the hedgerow without eating it all down. Chickens have access through cattle panels as well, for forage and shelter.

The last step was to remove the old fence which then ran down the middle.

It's a little hard to make out, but there are three rows of fence there.

After removing and rolling up the old welded wire fencing, I set about to remove the old t-posts. I assumed that would be relatively easy to do with our t-post puller.

These are old photos from an earlier post, but they let you
see how it works if you aren't familiar with these things.

Close up. (We got ours at Tractor Supply Co.)

The trouble was, after five years they were so stuck in our clay soil that I could only remove one with that puller. Then Dan gave it a try and concluded that we needed to pull out the big guns.

Tractor power and a good stout chain made a quick job of it!

Now I have to get it ready to plant. All of those holes where the posts used to be will be filled with organic matter and I will also put in a few mini-swales (similar to the one I put in the garden) to help retain rain run-off.

What I've been amazed at is how many earthworms are
in that clay soil with seemingly no organic matter.

I started by transplanting the hazelnut bushes from my original hedgerow. They weren't getting enough sun to be productive, so I moved them here.

Currently working on swales, berms, & transplanting.

The hazelnuts are still dormant so you probably can't see them in the above photo. I planted them in the swale berms. I still have to mulch the foremost swale, rake out the lumps of clay, and continue planting to get the soil covered.

The timing worked out well because it rained last night after transplanting them yesterday. Leaf buds are just forming so I hope they'll be happy here.

Hazelnut bush with just-forming leaf buds.

Time will tell.

A Second Permaculture Hedgerow © March 2017 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

How It's Going in the Hedgerow

Or not going. I've had a few setbacks since I first started planting my forest garden hedgerow in March of 2015, and have not been able to plant as much as I'd like.

Bird's eye view of our Forest Garden Hedgerow

I started then with the trees, a few shrubs, and some herbs:

• 1 Asian persimmon
• 2 standard pear trees
• 1 mulberry tree
• 2 chestnut trees
• 2 aronia shrubs
• wild rose (transplanted)
• hazelnuts (transplanted)
• yarrow
• comfrey
• horseradish
• rosemary
• oregano

I've replaced one of the pears, the mulberry, one of the chestnuts twice, and have just finished my third planting of aronia. None of the herbs survived last summer's heat and drought, but the Jerusalem artichokes I popped into the ground last winter made it with no additional watering from me. That was nice to see!

I chose tree and shrub varieties based on their heat and drought tolerance. They did get watered and mulched several times during the summer, but not enough. Plus the chickens quickly unmulched them (much to my great frustration.) I finally made small cages from short lengths of welded wire fence.

Newly planted chestnut tree. Blueberry
bush is turning red in the background.

The ground was so hard and dry that it took a couple of days to dig the hole. I scraped out an impression in the ground which I filled with water. The next day I dug that out and filled the hole with water again.

Aronia. With the cage the chickens can't scatter the mulch.

One thing that is important, for me at least, is the time of year I plant trees and shrubs. If I plant them in autumn or winter they do best. Anything planted in the spring seems to have a less than 50% chance of surviving our summers. I've stopped ordering from nurseries that insist that April is my prime planting month, because summer comes on fast and furious in my little part of the world. It becomes extra work to try to keep the new plants alive and well.

In weather news, we've had rain! Until this past Tuesday our last good rain was in August, when we got a total of 3.5 inches for the month. In September we got no rain, and then 0.25 inch in early October. The 3 inches at the tail end of November was sooo welcome. Best of all it was a gentle soaking rain.

Big rain puddles make the ducks happy!

The rain is also a relief for the Southern Appalachian wildfires. Some of you have asked if they've been a threat to us. We did get a smokey haze when the wind blew from certain directions, but we haven't been under imminent danger. It's raining again today and is forecast to continue over the next several days. That will help as well.

How It's Going in the Hedgerow © Dec. 2016 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

A Look Back at 2015

Once a year we look back at what the past year has brought us, both ups and downs. We usually discover we've accomplished a whole lot more than we thought. That helps us make plans for the future.

January

The living room was warmer and lighter after the bay window was built.

Our winter house project was the front porch, which by January meant replacing the old living room windows. In their place, Dan built a bay window. It was the month we lost Gruffy, and it was the month I started planning our first forest garden hedgerow.

February

The hedgerow now divides our front one acre pasture into two sections.

In February we got to work on that hedgerow. It was also the month we chose to be roosterless for awhile, never suspecting we'd have a volunteer day rooster ready to take over the job.

March

Helen and three of her quads

In March my first Kinder kids were born - quadruplets. We got the hedgerow fenced and gated, and planted. Our indoor project of the month was finishing the window seat for the bay window.

April

Our first hive of bees.

This was bee month. We assembled our hive kit, painted and named it, set it up, and installed a 3# package of honeybees. We also had our year's second goat kidding - a pair of twin doelings.

May

Black Australorp chicks

In May one of my Buff Orpington hens went broody. Dan and I were wanting to try something new, so I ordered 16 Black Australorp chicks for my broody to adopt. Mrs. Broody and I had a battle of the wills in regards to her nest location, until she finally said, "Forget it." That meant hand raising the new chicks with no mama. Subject to much speculation was whether or not Polly Pig was pregnant. It was also the month our walk-behind tractor died.

June

Two of my new doelings with one of my home-born girls.

June brought a hot start to summer. I worked in the garden and fussed with my bees. The big news was expanding my little Kinder herd with three new doelings from Illinois. I had plenty of milk coming in and resumed mozzarella making.

July

Six newborn American Guinea Hogs

Polly surprised us with six piglets in July. I hadn't even been sure she was pregnant. We worked on the house some, getting another new window installed plus trimming out the new front door. The big news was that we bought a farm tractor!

August

Prototype goat chow maker

Dan's big project in August was making a goat feed chopper out of our old yard mulcher. He also finished the living room so that we could use it again. In critter news it was the month Valentine (aka Meowy) came to live with us, and I traded one of Polly's piglets for six Muscovy ducks.

September

Ozark Razorback Cowpeas

It was a busy month in the garden: summer garden harvest, planting the fall garden, and starting on a hoop house. In all his spare time, Dan also made a little progress on the front porch.

October

Our pullets started laying just in time for a winter egg supply.

October is the month we get ready for winter. Firsts included Australorp eggs, raccoon stew, and a new method for planting winter pasture. I had just read Masanobu Fukuoka's The One-Straw Revolution was able to modify one of his techniques.

November

Hoop house under construction

First frost came in November so it was the month of finishing the summer harvest. It was a very rainy month so little got done outside. I spent my days trying to get Critter Tales ready for print, so I didn't do much blogging.

December

Dining room windows are in and needing trim (both inside and out).

In early December I was finally able to announce the release of Critter Tales and hold a giveaway to celebrate. During the month's first cold rainy days I cleaned out the freezer and worked on jams, jellies, and pizza sauce. Warm days followed, and when it wasn't raining we were able to make much progress on replacing our dining room windows.

And that's been our year! How about you?

A Look Back at 2015 © December 2015 by
Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Planting - Hedgerow and Garden

Lots of rain has meant little planting in the garden. But trees don't mind being planted in the rain. The trees went into my permaculture hedgerow.

Pear trees, mulberry tree, and Asian persimmon. All there
is to see are sticks in the ground and piles of mulch

Pear leafing out (and Waldo)

I started with the canopy layer this spring and will add other plants as I'm able. The trees were planted down the middle, shrubs, vines, and groundcover plants will be planted along the fences. That will hopefully benefit the animals in the pasture with a little foraging through the fence, plus allow me a path down the middle.

2 European Chestnuts, "Colossal", were planted in the other section.

2 newly planted chestnut saplings

I found an article, "Holistic Chestnut Orcharding" at the Appalachian Agroforestry website. After reading it, I will start to transplant some of my yarrow and comfrey plants here.

Transplanted yarrow

The blueberry bush in the middle is sporting little leaves and flowers.

I don't have much to show yet in the main garden, except my garlic is doing well

and my red raspberries are starting to leaf!

So far I've planted four beds:

Planted beds waiting to sprout.

Bed 1 - multiplier onions, Jericho lettuce, and Purple Plum radishes
Bed 2 - Detroit beets, Waltham broccoli, more multiplier onions
Bed 3 - Siberian Dwarf kale and antique marigolds
Bed 4 - multiplier onions and Nantes Carrots

This may sound terrible to you dedicated no-till folks, but I am so relieved to not be battling wire grass this spring in order to plant. Last fall we let the pigs into the garden to do the preliminary natural tilling, then Dan finished the job with his garden tiller. Wire grass is the biggest reason I didn't get much of a fall and winter garden in. Having to deal with this -

March 2011 photo of wire grass roots strangling a strawberry plant

It gets so dense that it becomes nearly impossible to plant anything and is a battle to remove manually. Consequently, I abandoned the permanent garden beds. We're very curious as to how the pig plowing will effect weed growth this summer. That will be the subject of future garden posts.

Speaking of strawberries -

Mine are starting to bloom!

How about you? Is the weather cooperating with your garden plans?

Planting - Hedgerow and Garden © March 2015
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Forest Garden Hedgerow: Fenced, Gated, & Planting Begun

We had a lovely spring-like day the other day and were able to complete the fencing for the forest garden hedgerow and get started on the planting. If you haven't read my previous posts on this project, the purpose is to divide our one acre front pasture into two paddocks, separated by plantings of nut, fruit, and forage producing plants.

Aerial view outlining the location of the new cattle panel hedgerow fence.

From ground level it looks like this:

The gate to the blueberry corral allows access to both sides of the hedgerow

Looking to the left; enough room for a path and wheelbarrow

The gate at the bottom is wide enough to drive through.

On the other side of the blueberry bush

The walk through gate

I made a long list of planting possibilities ("Planning for Forest Garden Hedgerows"), but of course had to narrow it down to my budget. I decided to start with the canopy layer this spring, since trees are the slowest growing. I'll add shrubs, vines, and ground level forage plants as I'm able.

So far we've planted:

• 1 Asian persimmon
• 2 standard pear trees
• 1 mulberry tree

Ordered but not yet here:

• 2 chestnut trees
• 2 aronia shrubs

I chose only varieties described as resistant to drought, heat, and disease.

I've already transplanted (from our property):

• a wild rose bush
• 4 hazelnuts

Still to transplant:

• yarrow
• comfrey
• thyme
• sumac

Hopefully this fall I'll be able to add more from my list. For now, I'm just happy to get a start on this project. 

Forest Garden Hedgerow: Fenced, Gated, & Planting Begun
© March 2015 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/