By Tuesday I'd laid the remaining tile (but some more is on order) so it was time to plant those bare root apple trees we scouped up at Costco about a month ago ($15 each). There is a little triangular sunny spot in the front yard and that's where they went. Had to move a small mountain of stock piled dirt and level out the spot, but by noon I was ready to plant those suckers. Two Gravenstein, one Honey Crisp, one Fuji (early season), and on 4-in-1 grafted pollenator. No leaves on the trees, so Bambi and her friends haven't noticed them yet, but they will. The profilic deer bed down in the adjacent State Park (Old Fort Townsend) and stroll over to Green Acres for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hell, they may have dessert here too for all I know. (Anyone have an oil-based paint gun they want to sell?)
So to protect our 2012 bounty of apples, I had to construct some sort of deer fence. People around the neighborhood have told me that the deer will jump over 6 ft fences to dine. They'll eat about any kind of new growth and love tulips (dessert). So I got a roll of 7-ft deer fencing (light weight 1" plastic mesh) and fenced in Johnny's little orchard. Made nice wells and put in organic soil and bark chips, then remembered that I still had to lay the 110-v power line from the garage to the front lamp post. Should have done this last summer when I had open trenches for the power and water, but it slipped my mind. Nancy says that a front light would be a nice touch (like we should have one), so now was the time to do it. I glued up 14 10' sections of PVC conduit (cheap) with 12 guage wx resistent cable and laid it out from the garage to the driveway. Can't cross the septic field or dry river bed, so my routes are limited. Damn if the best route didn't go right through the apple patch. No worries, the soil was soft from all the digging so I dug and planted this part of the electrical conduit first, then will work towards the garage and driveway next. The light post in the front will serve as out house address marker post also, so its a twofer.The deer fence is finished and barely noticeable, so it should pass muster with the landscaping committee (no real fences are allowed in Kala Point). It beats the paint-ball machine gun nest that I'd have to build as an alternative deterrent to Bambi and Co.
