Zen and the Art of Fence Maintenance
Project #1: Make it harder for Kip to play on the damn road
One of the first projects we’ve set ourselves upon is patching any spots Kip, our… structural reliability testing puppy could use to escape the property. We actually accomplished this earlier in the spring, while the ground was still frozen and we were far from worrying about planting. But, before we began any extensive projects, we needed to know that our dogs were save and secure roaming the property. Enter Kip, our puppy.
I’m about to test the structural reliability of your face!
The core problem was a few crooked posts along the East fence, where outflow from a nearby culvert caused the ground to shift slightly. While at the time we lacked the horsepower to move the posts themselves (the property is fenced with railroad ties), we could at least dig up the bent over fence, bring it taut, and reattach it to the shifted fence posts.
Once we hit our rhythm, this was actually pretty straightforward. The hardest part was that under the accumulated debris that was holding the fence down, it was also covered by a few inches of frozen mud, and we didn’t pack an ice pick! While it made a one-hour job into a three-hour job, steadily chipping away at the exposed ice allowed us to free the fence and reattach it at higher, puppy-proof levels.
And with that, we officially made our first mark on the property. It may not look like much now, after all that we’ve done since, but the security of knowing Kip isn’t going to start off down the road the second we’re occupied is a life saver all on its own. Good enough, anyway, to enjoy a victory lap and a couple pints at Alluvial!