Chestnut fencing
This is a poignant moment for our farm. Proper fencing at last. The top potager has always been the cinderella of the vegetable gardens.
Out of sight and woefully neglected. It has finally had a proper bit of attention this year. Ten years after I first set eyes on it.
This chestnut fencing went up last year. But it wasn’t properly installed and did rather sag.
Luckily I had a Nicolas day this week and he sorted it out. Proper chestnut stakes to fix the roll of chestnut slats. And he even proudly showed me how he graded the colour of the old (grey) and the new (bright yellow).
I must confess that it was entirely lost on me (I was deeply mired in trying to sort out my compost bins and not really paying attention). But it looks so fetching. And will even deter deer.
I can now not worry about crops being munched at dusk and dawn.
And every day that I twinkle up there to harvest my asparagus, I have a huge smile on my face seeing yet one more piece of the jigsaw that is this large country garden taking shape.
And whenever I write the words chestnut fencing I am reminded that it is two years exactly when one of this blog’s readers got in touch.
Lisa, you asked me about where to find chestnut fencing in the west of France two years ago. And what a lot of garden chat has happened since!
I have potted up your gooseberries today. I took cuttings in the autumn, never thinking how easy it would be. The gooseberries are hilariously spiky, but with gauntlets and awkward work to get them out of their nursery pots and into proper potting mix they will be good to go.
I think I will put them into the potager in their pots so they can grow on and put on some girth for a season. And as a bonus I might get some fruit. But at least they are safe and ready to become part of your animal-proof hedge.
9th April 2017 @ 4:59 pm
How can I not respond? With a question of course. How many metres of chestnut fencing did Nicolas actually put up?
I’ve found what seems to be the same product at my local Gedimat but am wrestling with the frightening cost of fencing the vege/fruit tree patch. About 100m of it, back of the envelope. Perhaps I’d better start buying Euromillions tickets again … Or take out a hunting permit (kidding).
9th April 2017 @ 6:36 pm
Hi Lisa, Nico put up 20 metres of fencing. The prices are in ten metre rolls. and I chose the one metre high fencing which came in around 70 euros for 10 metres. so your 100 metres is eye watering. And there is also the cost of the chestnut stakes every two metres. I have made some home made ones with my own chestnut sticks and wire which I wrapped myself. As long as you have it quite taught it will work. How about I start stockpiling the sticks (zillions lying about here in the forest) and you can collect a car load when you come by this year? I’ll look out for a photo of the ones I made.
10th April 2017 @ 8:02 am
The thought of chestnut stakes has me drooling – collect away! Even if I never manage the 700 odd euros for the fence I’m sure I can find equally worthwhile uses for them, especially as my local bamboo donor is trying to sell his bamboo-infested block of land. Better get out the bamboo harvesting tools, just as soon as I catch up with the weeding & planting …
10th April 2017 @ 8:04 am
I’ll start stacking it up. there is a hidden corner behind the stables that has your name on it!