The neighbor's calf observed our fence building with interest. He found his way over or under the fence onto Fern Creek once before--when he was smaller, so I imagine he's wondering if we're trying to keep him out. But we fence our gardens to keep the deer out, not the rare cow (or cows--once we had three) who occasionally meander up the driveway…
Mark enjoys expanding the garden space, and I enjoy contemplating feeding more people, so we maximize our enjoyments by doing both. We're expanding from 12 to 16 families this year, and taking 5 of those families deeper--meaning they will have extra produce for preservation, and continue to pick up food every other week for another 6 weeks after everyone else's season ends.
These early days of February have been sunny and warm, so Mark has been terracing the slope for a big carrots and parsnip bed, and yesterday started digging the holes for the fence posts. I tamped down the posts once the hole was dug, but couldn't keep up with Mark, who has now dug 11 of the 17 holes for this fence extension. It will be our winter garden next year--that is, the section of the garden we won't let the hens feast on come November, so that we can continue eating broccoli, kale, spinach and chard long after harvesting most of the other crops.
We were reminded today how very much we enjoy the prepping winter work we do on mild February days--made all the sweeter with the presence of our dog-like cat Pollifax, and young pullets and calves watching from their safe and curious distance.
