Blue Zones Trench
I'm in the process of fencing the garden. Last weekend I cut enough posts for the fence but set only the corner and gate posts. My next step was to bury a barrier to prevent rabbits and gophers from digging under the fence.
A few weeks ago I bought three metal garage doors for $10 each. By disassembling the doors I have metal panels that are eight feet two by fifteen inches which are ideal for a barrier. Pocket gophers can burrow as deep as 36 inches but are unlikely to do so in my situation. About 12 inches deep I encounter a layer of cinders and, in some areas, caliche. The closest burrows that I've seen are almost a thousand feet from the garden. I think I'll be fine with 15 inches of barrier.
I needed to open 150 feet of trench 15 inches deep. Because it's getting late in the season I thought about renting a trencher and doing fence and water lines from the house to the cistern to the garden in one day. But, I read the Blue Zones book. It told me what I already knew. Healthy, vivacious older people have been active all their lives and continue to be active and engaged in manual labor. By hand digging the trench I would benefit physically as well as not contributing to the recovery of a bad economy.
I have the task half finished. Only 75 feet left to trench and I'll be ready to stetch the fence fabric.
Door panel beside open trench; facing south toward the gate. I'm putting the gate on a corner at 45 degrees to the fence.
East side completed. Facing north.
A few weeks ago I bought three metal garage doors for $10 each. By disassembling the doors I have metal panels that are eight feet two by fifteen inches which are ideal for a barrier. Pocket gophers can burrow as deep as 36 inches but are unlikely to do so in my situation. About 12 inches deep I encounter a layer of cinders and, in some areas, caliche. The closest burrows that I've seen are almost a thousand feet from the garden. I think I'll be fine with 15 inches of barrier.
I needed to open 150 feet of trench 15 inches deep. Because it's getting late in the season I thought about renting a trencher and doing fence and water lines from the house to the cistern to the garden in one day. But, I read the Blue Zones book. It told me what I already knew. Healthy, vivacious older people have been active all their lives and continue to be active and engaged in manual labor. By hand digging the trench I would benefit physically as well as not contributing to the recovery of a bad economy.
I have the task half finished. Only 75 feet left to trench and I'll be ready to stetch the fence fabric.
Door panel beside open trench; facing south toward the gate. I'm putting the gate on a corner at 45 degrees to the fence.
East side completed. Facing north.
posted by Paul at 6:44 AM
2 Comments:
Were'd the trees you cut to make those posts come from? Talk about perfect diameters for fence posts!
I'm setting about ten 4X4X8 posts, all grown at Home Depot. This phase will include a metal gate as well.
No burrowers around here to worry about.
I didn't know about Blue Zones. Thanks for mentioning it. I so enjoy watching your off-the-grid process. Looking at these images, I can almost smell the rabbit bush. Sometimes I miss living in the desert.
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