Deer Fence Gates

What a job the deer fence has been! On Friday Richard, Jim and I installed two posts for the first gate, which was more difficult than I imagined because we need to line everything up just right. We started on the second gate but keep hitting rock on one of the holes and had to leave. I returned on Saturday morning to determine if it was boulders or bedrock we were hitting (definitely bedrock) and started a 3rd hole but gave up in the unseasonable heat.

Today, in record-breaking heat, Terry & Ryan were able to install the posts in the 2nd gate (after digging even more holes in an attempt to evade the bedrock), as well as a post along the old driveway. It was brutal working weather! But they did it.

After the posts set up they'll be ready to attach the remaining fencing and gates. And THEN I can order the plants. Whoohoo!

Hand-Dug Well

Richard and Jim were out early today working on the deer fence, and Ryan and I joined them later on. The northern half of the deer fence is now complete, so all that's left are the three gateways. While Ryan and Richard were finishing up the fence I went looking for the old well that Dean Cawthra said he had found, covered by a piece of metal. And here it is (photo above) ...between the bypass trail and the pond, and marked by some rocks holding down a thin piece of metal. We lifted off the cover and found the well in great shape (photo below).

Hard to see from the photo, but the entire well is about 8 feet deep and filled half way with crystal clear water - you can barely even tell where the water is in the photo because it's so clear. The dead leaves there got kicked in when we lifted the cover and are floating on the top of the water. The water level in the well is the same as in the pond. Now the question is: Is there any way we can use this for the garden? Jim suggested a battery could be used to pump water out, but I don't think he realized how far down the hill the well is. That would take a heavy duty pump to get it all the way up to the garden. Dean had said we should be able to hook up a hand pump to the well, but then we still would have to carry buckets of water up the hill. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if we had something on wheels to help haul the water up. Or can a hand pump be used to pump the water up the hill? No idea.

Deer Fence Progress

Richard, Ryan, Lynn, Terry and myself worked on installation of the deer fence today, and it is about half way complete. Terry picked up some welded gate frames from Specialty Agricultural Supplies in Orange, and painted them black (photo)

Parks & Rec has removed the boulder and cable from the end of the driveway to allow deliveries up the driveway. A new chain will be installed for which we have the key.

I sent out a request for quotes to six nurseries for the purchase of natives species. White Flower Farms responded that don't give quotes. A few other nurseries sent me a list of a few available native species, but Earth Tones in Woodbury says they have most of what I listed in the natural form (not cultivares).

The bottom picture is Richard, Ryan and myself installing the deer fence, which is nearly invisible in the photo.