Planning My Lab Acre

I've started thinking about what my acre plot in Ant Village will look like, and I'd appreciate any feedback. I still have a year of service to go before I'm granted the acre, so there's time to work out kinks in this plan. I also have yet to select a specific plot, though I do have a location already in mind.

First, some guidelines that helped me develop this initial draft:
- I intend to reside at the Lab during what I call the "growing season," which is roughly April through the end of October, maybe November-ish. My main live-in structure will be my super-awesome canvas tent. I expect I'll be off-site during the coldest part of the year.
- I want to grow food for myself, but primarily to supplement the Boots' pantry.
- I want a willow feeder that I can also share with other folks on that side of the Lab (the closest one is currently at the entrance to Allerton Abbey).
- I want a fence that is likely to repel deer. There will be a single intended opening, and it will look nice.
- I am not the best gardener, and I am not the best builder. However I stumble into minor successes in both categories from time to time.

Here's an image of the current plan, drawn mostly-to-scale:



Beyond the gate, I intend to have two structures. One is the previously-mentioned willow feeder. The other is a storage shed. I'll fill this with my possessions, as well as the tent when I break it down to store for the cold season.

Hopefully the notes included in the image are clear enough for the curious to have a fair idea of what I intend.

Any questions? Any suggestions? Please share your thoughts. Thanks!

Stephen, welcome back! To posting (and I assume to Wheaton Labs).

I am looking forward to hear about your adventures!

Liv Smith wrote:Stephen, welcome back! To posting (and I assume to Wheaton Labs).

Thanks for the well-wishing!

I'm still on the road, though will be back to Basecamp this coming weekend. The drive back through lovely countryside and all the podcast-listening though the hundreds of miles has me thinking of the year ahead. Didn't want to wait to post this, as I'm of the opinion that the sooner my initial plans are ripped to shreds, the better.

I haven't been there to investigate the build of the willow feeders in person, but in my head at least, the cans are removed through the rear and the process requires a machine. If those are both correct understandings, you won't want yours up against a fence like the design shows...or maybe the scale means it's not as close as all that?

Actually, maybe your scale is the real issue. An acre is a ~208' square but your orange beds are supposed to be 5x5', so something is off.

I'd be careful about how close to your annual gardening plots you plant the trees. If they get very big, their leaves can shade out your food annuals and the roots will out-compete them for nutrients and water. And trees and food crop annuals can have very different preferences for soil bacteria and fungi.

Welcome back to posting!!!

I agree that your scale must be off which gives a bunch of hope for how much you can grow there.  Here are some thoughts:

- With 5' squares, you have to reach in from each side to cover the whole area.  If they were 4x6 you could reach from just two sides.  I'd highly advise to set up a system so that you don't ever need to step on the growing soil and cause compaction.
- I wouldn't put trees in the center either.  At the lab there tends to be plenty of sun but I think the root competition for water might hinder your veggies.  Maybe putting the tree on the north west corner or west side of the set of beds would give some shade in the harsh afternoon and the roots wouldn't compete quite as much.  I think I'd rather just put the trees elsewhere.
- Pay attention to slope.  I think SW facing slopes will be warmer and have a longer growing season but they might be baked by the sun and hard to keep alive.  Notice at base camp how the only places the undergrowth does well is on the north and east slopes that are shaded by trees.  Perhaps a SW facing slope with a few big conifers to the SW of it to provide afternoon shade would be ideal?  There's more soil at the lab so maybe it's less of a problem than at base camp.
- I'd suggest remesh for your fence since it's untreated steel and likely Paul-approved.  I'd do 2 fences 5' high and 4-5 feet apart since deer won't jump things that mess with their depth perception.  Put the remesh on the outside and then a junk pole hitching rack style barricade on the inside.  So the 5' high remesh fence on the outside keeps them from walking in.  And the junkpoles on the inside keep them from jumping in.  What I mean by "hitching rack style" is a post (or tree) every 10' and a horizontal large junkpole connected to the posts at about 5' high.  Maybe the posts could be 20' apart, just depends on how sag-proof your horizontal junk poles will be.  The gate could be lined up with the remesh outer fence.
- The wavy deer fence might also work but I think it would struggle if you have terrain to work with.  Or maybe it would excel, I dunno.  It is another option though...

Thank you all for the feedback up 'til now...! This is immensely instructive.

Christopher Weeks wrote:Actually, maybe your scale is the real issue. An acre is a ~208' square but your orange beds are supposed to be 5x5', so something is off.

Mike Haasl wrote:I agree that your scale must be off which gives a bunch of hope for how much you can grow there.

Yeah... Wow. First, I thought an acre was 120ft to a side, so I drafted some dimensions based on that. Then, the garden beds were sized so that they would be equivalent to 10ft to a side. The original design is all jacked-up.

In reality, it looks like I'll have so much room to grow stuff. I am working on a revised version now. Here it is, definitely not to scale at the moment. I've added the <-- north <-- direction to provide some reference.



More notes:
- The wavy fence seems brilliant! I've seen the same fencing material over at the Pond on the Lab, and that's what I'll likely go with. Going to move forward on this as the main idea.
- With the additional growing room I want to attempt to follow Helen Atthowe's method of leaving a row fallow so that it can regenerate, provide habitat, provide mulch, etc. between years. I will need to research and read-up on this.
- I added a deck to beneath the tent. The front porch area will be for "purple permaculture" purposes. I'd like to entertain guests and hang out up there.
- There's also a random grove of trees that I'd like to have as permanent. A variety of deciduous would be the ideal.
- Adjusted the position of the willow feeder based on Christopher's suggestions. Cans can be moved out with merely human effort, and no machine is required. I'd likely use a cart to move cans to the Warehouse when required.

I have a rough idea of where I want to set up shop, but not completely firm on it yet. The plot I'm thinking of has little in the way of trees and is quite meadow-ish, so as far as I recall I wouldn't be cutting down many trees if at all. I would also like to utilize the terrain whenever possible to provide edge, though I'm reluctant at this point to do much in the way of earthworks. I was even thinking of a small pond but that seems like a bit of a stretch, considering our climate.

Any other feedback or questions would be greatly appreciated! So far, this has been useful and inspiring. Thanks, y'all!

Yay, looks great!

When I was in NZ I visited an intentional community where they had a simple roof over a bunch of tents.  That way the roof took care of the rain and the tents just had to deal with bugs and wind.  Maybe a simple roof (no walls?) over your tent would allow it to stay up all winter?  Maybe it could be contiguous with the shed.  That roof might collect some water for the gardens.  Although I don't know what the "Lab rules" are for roofs....  To keep it more subtle I wonder about a brown metal roof with a foot or two of loose, needle-less boughs piled on it.  They'd let water through to be collected and make the roof more natural looking to the eagles and ravens.

Further refinements, and the illustration is now to scale.



- Added detail for each of the individual plots, marked with an example of vegetable layout. Note that each season, there will be a row that's left to grow wild. Still considering a crop-rotation schedule, and I'll need to factor in the seasonal nature of some of the veggies I want in order to optimize what I attempt.
- Since I'm taking the advice to keep the trees away from the veggies, I might rotate-out the rhubarb for something else. Any suggestions?
- Added a second storage shed, east of the garden plots, where actual gardening tools will be kept.
- Considering a large water container of some kind to be stored near the gate house (just southeast of it, I reckon). Not sure where the nearest hydrant will be but chance are it'll be the pump house. Maybe I can sort out a gravity-fed watering system? Or at least something to help with watering tasks? Will also need to factor in that it will be drained to accommodate off-season cold temps.

Re: roof over the big tent: well, the tent is just about 10' tall. Maybe a roof that high will be more trouble than it's worth. However, having a roof that sticks out in front of Storage Shed A might be worth considering...?

There's also a large region in the center that I've kept clear. Maybe guests can set up tents in that area, maybe something else. Any ideas for what would be worth installing here would be welcomed.

Also going to discuss with Paul one of these days what I might do in terms of a driveway, at least as far as through the gate house to the road. Loading-in stuff and hauling-out veggies is something I'll need to consider for optimization of this plan.

I'd suggest just making 48' long beds instead of separating them every 6'.  You can still treat it as 6' chunks...

I hadn't noticed the crop listing till just now.  I'd humbly make a number of changes:

That is a very big garden!  I might start a bit smaller and add in more kinds of food.  But it depends what the customer needs.

Rhubarb is perennial so I'd put that in with the trees.  10 happy rhubarb is a lot of rhubarb.  Easy to split as needed to get more plants.

Garlic is planted in the late fall and harvested in July so it messes with crop rotations.  I've had good luck planting it in a bed that is harvested when it frosts (potatoes or pumpkins would be an option).  Once you harvest it the next year you can possibly get a short season crop out of that bed as well.  Just need some planning.

Sunchokes are kinda perennial, and possibly hard to get rid of when you want to grow something else so I'd put them by the trees too (or anywhere outside the annual garden).

Radishes are fun but I'm not sure what I'd do with 400 lbs of them.  Many varieties grow quickly and can be done and over within 45 days.  They're also often small and could be just planted in spots where something else didn't grow.

You can get a lot of kale from a row.  For reference, if I was growing on your scale in my garden, I'd end up with 36 servings of kale a day.  Your soil may not be as good but even 1/4th that would be a hell of a lot of kale.  If you're worried about having good soil, I'd focus on growing 10 plants well vs spreading your fertility across 50 plants that struggle and take more water.

Pumpkins often sprawl around.  I've grown them next to garlic with good luck.  The garlic's about ready to be pulled by the time the pumpkins start to take over their territory.  I might suggest growing more varieties of winter squash.  Butternut keep well into late winter and spaghetti squash keep for a year.  Zucchini can bury you with food.  Each plant puts out about a zucchini every 2-3 days for me.

I'd be tempted to add onions, beans, peas, salad greens, tomatoes, cabbage, turnip/parsnip/rutabaga, carrots, sweet potatoes and maybe more to the list.  If you're supplementing boot food, maybe focus on high $ stuff.  What do Paul or the boots burn the most money on?  What can you preserve so you can eat through the winter?

Mike Haasl wrote:Garlic is planted in the late fall and harvested in July so it messes with crop rotations.  I've had good luck planting it in a bed that is harvested when it frosts (potatoes or pumpkins would be an option).  Once you harvest it the next year you can possibly get a short season crop out of that bed as well.  Just need some planning.

I like this idea a lot. In fact, were I to broaden my "plant portfolio" I suspect I could come up with some additional synergies to add to the project. Sorting out a rotation ahead of time - like, this entire year ahead of time - seems prudent.

I do want to provide a lot of produce for the Boots each year, but having all those beds at the same time is more of an eventuality as opposed to something right away. I imagine being able to add another set of three rows each year, after working an area about half the size of the full garden plan for my first year. We'll see.

There's no guarantee that my garden efforts will be effective much at all, which is a reality I might need to face. That said, should I somehow end up with way too many radishes (or sweet potatoes, or whatever else), then maybe the nearby Farmer's Market is worth investigating. That's a bit further down the road, I think, but it's something I'm also quite interested in. There's also a lot of food preservation cogitation rattling around in my mind for the times when I am no longer Booting it. So something like too many radishes isn't a deleterious problem, it seems more like a "happy" one.

Planning what to do with the rhubarb? My advice: with the trees. Here's a photo of rhubarb under a tree in my garden. To inspire you.  

Rhubarb and comfrey roots are under ground trees complimentary to tree roots.  I started to dig up a 100 year old plant that was in the path of a drain field.  I got down 3 feet and the root was still 2 feet in diameter so I gave up and waited for the back hoe machine. Turned out the drain field stopped 3 feet short of the plant.  Rhubarb needs to be covered in tree leaves during the winter but in turn their large leaves when harvested can cover bare ground between transplants this time of year.  The comfrey is sending up flower stalks so I can cut it and mix with unfinished laves in pits under the transplants.
The open space in front of the tent platform is your living room so bring home flat stones to pave it and the path to the gate.

Stephen, have you got a topographical map?
What data do you have regarding Sector Analysis?
To the north side (or the prevailing winter wind direction), what is the existing protection like?

Willow can be woven to give a decent living fence, though you'd need some temporary, perhaps more standard fencing until it was well established.
I believe willow will pleach (if that's the correct term) when woven/tied; i.e. it will grow into itself.

Looks like a workable plan.

I am an old off gridder so I would probably include space for chickens for egg production and free fertilizer or possibly rabbits and a goat or 2.

My homestead is just about 3/4 of an acre and it is amazing what you can do with a small piece of land if you plan it out.

I am not real fond of tents but they can work for temporary living. If you plan to stay there permanently I would consider building a small cabin/

Best on your adventures!

Michael Kristoffersson wrote:Stephen, have you got a topographical map?
What data do you have regarding Sector Analysis?
To the north side (or the prevailing winter wind direction), what is the existing protection like?

Great questions. However, until I definitively choose a plot to inhabit, I won't have the answers. I've heard that the plots are marked-off somehow, but I've not taken a close-enough look to find out how and exactly where. One of these days...

Ah, right. So as long as your design can be flexible enough to adjust once you know more info then that should be fine.

I'm considering you'd at least want tree and/or hedge shelter from the cold winds.
For both the plants and definitely for your tent location as well.

If there's any significant slope, use it to your advantage.
Site things uphill that provide for downhill. Moving things downhill is far easier than the other way around.

e.g. chickens above a garden, water store above garden, food above accommodation or processing area, etc.

Just a couple  of thoughts for now.

LaMar Alexander wrote:Looks like a workable plan.

I am an old off gridder so I would probably include space for chickens for egg production and free fertilizer or possibly rabbits and a goat or 2.

My homestead is just about 3/4 of an acre and it is amazing what you can do with a small piece of land if you plan it out.

I am not real fond of tents but they can work for temporary living. If you plan to stay there permanently I would consider building a small cabin/

Best on your adventures!

Thanks for the kudos, LaMar! Personally speaking, I've watched a number of your homesteading how-to videos, and they've proven inspirational to me.

I would like to strongly consider egg production, as the Boots do seem to eat a lot of them. If I raise my own chickens, then I will likely start eating eggs again. I can see myself raising chickens through the growing season, harvesting eggs as soon as they begin laying, then processing them for meat at the end of the growing season, in November-ish.

As of right now a tent is a fair-enough living space, as I won't be living there year-round to start. But the "deck" is pretty much the footprint of a larger, more-permanent dwelling as time goes on. I sincerely love my tent, but I know it won't last forever (or, at least not long enough for me). The plan for now is that the tent will come down in late November, then be raised again in the following April, when I start the growing season.

Stephen B. Thomas wrote:

Michael Kristoffersson wrote:Stephen, have you got a topographical map?
What data do you have regarding Sector Analysis?
To the north side (or the prevailing winter wind direction), what is the existing protection like?

Great questions. However, until I definitively choose a plot to inhabit, I won't have the answers. I've heard that the plots are marked-off somehow, but I've not taken a close-enough look to find out how and exactly where. One of these days...

Hey, Ya'll.
Here's a great reference for everything TOPO. I use this site often. Oh. And it's free! Well. Sort of.

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-do-i-find-download-or-order-topographic-maps

Are you planning to cook? can? I don't see a food prep are on your map at all....

How about including an area for an outdoor kitchen or at least some food prep space?

Cat Knight wrote:How about including an area for an outdoor kitchen or at least some food prep space?

Great suggestion. To start with, I think I'll be able to do food prep either on the "deck," in the tent during rainy weather, or down at the FPH at Basecamp.

There is an outdoor kitchen on another plot, built by past residents, that I could use as inspiration. It does seem like an excellent, exceptionally useful space. Should I be able to conceive a way to stay on the plot year-round, then food prep and preservation will need some permanence. Maybe an outbuilding of its own, as I think I would prefer to keep food out of my sleeping area.

I think it's time for another revised plot diagram, and perhaps a visit to the available plots over at Ant Village. I'd like to know what type of terrain I'd be working with, and I think the sooner the better. Stay tuned... :)

Stephen, this plot is very well thought-out. Were you going to have a rmh anywhere ? Or a fire pit /biochar area? These may be available near the Abbey, etc. and may be unnecessary duplication. Montana always gives me a vested interest in heat sources.

Thoughtful plan, and it is impressive that you are still thinking about it, and open to so much input.
I don't know the prevailing winds there, other than winter storms from the north and west, or how much shade you might want/need in the summer heat. If you do know, you could plant the appropriate deciduous or coniferous trees to protect from harsh winds, remain open to cooling summer winds, and shade your tent and/or "living room" area in the afternoons.

I like the idea of an awning/roof on the front of the shed.

Current plan, as of 21 May 2023.



Thank you to everyone who's provided input so far! I think this plan has come a long way, and I am grateful you've stopped by. Here are a couple more responses:

Regarding heat sources: at this point, I am planning on being here only during the "growing season" (April to late-ish November) so there will be no permanent living space. The tent lacks any manner of insulation and is a poor choice for long-term habitation. However, if I'm able to pull off all that I've envisioned, then the tent will be replaced with a permanent structure of some kind. At that point, I'll readily consider a RMH and a longer stay.

I'm wary of being hung-up on building an elaborate shelter at the outset. I'd rather focus on the infrastructure to begin: the willow feeder, water storage, and Year 1 Garden, for example. I feel like once the systems are built and matured/tested/optimized, then I can address permanent housing on-site.

Regarding tree cover/prevailing winds: I don't have a solid answer for this just yet. I do think I will have more of an answer once my plot is selected. The good news is that the entirety of the plan can be rotated to best deal with the winds. Also, there's no telling what the terrain might be beyond the edge of the acre, so I might be able to find a plot relatively sheltered from the North and West.

Open Space Use: I have a large open space in the center of the plot, and I keep coming back to what I might do with it. A couple thoughts are:
- Raising chickens. The Boots eat a lot of eggs, and this is obviously a way to supplement the food needs here. Were I successful in raising chickens through the growing season it's likely I'd even start eating eggs again myself.
- Tent rental. Personally, I love, love, love my canvas tent. Investing in an additional tent or two and then letting SEPPers and Summer Event guests use them as accommodations would be a way to supplement my income once break-even is reached. Maybe we can also entice more "ringers" (skilled craftspeople who are willing to contribute their skills and knowledge to Boot projects) to visit the Boot Camp with a stay in a fancy-ass tent, a bit more private than the typical bunk room.
- Workshop/Outdoor Kitchen. Fabricating things on-site at the Lab may prove convenient and useful in a pinch for Lab projects, and can help kick-start more long-term stays up at the Lab in general. Someone also suggested an outdoor kitchen, which I think is an excellent idea. Building a solar dehydrator on-site is also a valuable asset, in my opinion. That said, this is the most "pie-in-the-sky" plan I have of these three.

Vegetable Mix: The configuration of vegetables has changed a fair amount over time thanks to everyone's suggestions, and I'm still looking for more guidance on what to plant. I am thinking bush beans or pole beans ought to be Veggie #4, but I'm not completely satisfied with the entire mix just yet. Paul has also strongly suggested that planting more perennials is a food system strategy worth pursuing, which when followed throws a monkey-wrench into the whole crop-rotation thing. Maybe have some crops annuals, and some crops perennials? Should you have suggestions, please chime in here.

Any additional thoughts to share on the current plan, and/or uses for the unplanned central area would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading!

I personally think that, especially in your part of the country, it's a great idea to grow enough annual calories each year while starting a perennial food system.  People have spent a lot of time trying to establish perennial systems there and I'm not sure how many are producing yet.  After a fair number of years...

Perhaps Paul could be satisfied if you took the tree nursery down in size to maybe 6 garden beds worth of space.  That should be plenty if it's an actual nursery where you're propagating densely for transplant elsewhere.  Then take the rest of it and do a 4 year progression of perennial food system development.

You could even make the perennial and annual food systems the same size (per yearly expansion) and do a GAMCOD videoing of the whole thing to make money.  

"Hi, my name is Stephen!  I am going to plant 1000 sq ft in annual veggies and 1000 sq ft in perennial systems during 2024.  I'll spend X hours per day on setting up and nurturing each system.  Let's see how much food I get at the end of the year!  Next year I'll compare how much time it takes to maintain an existing annual garden and existing perennial system and again compare outputs.  Here's my kickstarter, gimme money!"

Hi Stephen. I am not really familiar with the climate and soil there. As far as I know you have very cold winters with a lot of snow and dry sunny summers. And you have wood-soil on top of bedrock.

Where I live we have mild winters, a lot of rain and clouds throughout the year, and the soil is sandy with organic matter in the top few inches (no bedrock and no clay). Here it's fairly easy to grow perennials. I have all kinds of 'mediterranean' herbs, many different fruit-bearing shrubs (currants, berries), fruit trees (apples, pears, cherries) and other edible perennials (rhubarb, good king henry, horse-radish, jerusalem artichokes, real artichokes/cardoons, etc.

I find growing annual vegetables harder. Only kales do very well. But maybe you are better at growing annuals.

Did a bit more thinking on this recently, and much of it is being revised. An image will be provided soon. For now, a wall of text will have to suffice. I'll add emphasis to facilitate skimming and help summarize what it might be like.

***

Approaching the plot, I see a sturdy, prominent fence. It stretches across the front from left to right, out to each corner, eventually encompassing the entire plot: 208 feet to a side. At the center of this front fence-wall, I see a large gatehouse made of raw, roundwood poles and timbers. The name "Aurelius" (named after Marcus Aurelius, last of the great Roman emperors, and author of "Meditations") is burned into the surface beneath a sloped head-piece. I push open the farm gate - another roundwood affair, turning on Pronneke-style hinges - and step inside.

My boots crunch on the graveled entryway.  To my right, a large above-ground cistern sits poised on a sturdy platform, its 175+ gallons ready to sustain the gardens. To my left, a fledgling stand of willows or cottonwoods - the "poop beasts" - surround the willow feeder. A few steps further in, past the willows to the left, a large outbuilding shelters my various hand tools, a workbench or two, and a couple sawhorses.

Next to the outbuilding is The Platform, on top of which rests my beloved canvas bell tent. A pole structure in a half-oval shape, peaked at its apex on the flat side opposite the oval's curve, covers the tent to deflect snow during the coldest parts of the year. The structure is roughly 12 feet tall, and 18 feet wide. It's in this building I sleep at night and hold the bulk of my personal possessions.

Across from this, on the other side of the graveled pathway, the hugel berms begin. These stretch to nearly 20 feet long, from north to south. They are oriented in such a way as to provide for both direct sunlight as well as shade throughout the day. The variety of plants ranges from alfalfa, daikon radish, and other cover crops to pumpkin, potato, corn, and trellises of pole beans and nasturtium. Jerusalem artichokes and sunflowers stand tall and healthy at the peaks of the hugel berms, providing additional shade for the less-hardy plants to either side.

Deeper into the plot, next to The Platform, is the first true orchard. Fruit trees share space with garlic and rhubarb, which dot the mounds scattered between the saplings. At the terminus of the gravel path, the tree nursery consists of a few long, straight rows, with a cord stretched between posts at either end. Hazelnuts, black locust, and more fruit trees are planted here, to be transplanted either within this acre or somewhere else at Wheaton Labs.

Another fence is here, with a less-impressive gatehouse structure providing egress. Next to this is another small oubuilding holding more land-working tools, as well as a closed container for chicken feed and another workbench or two. The chicken coop - being a skiddable structure - lies a short ways beyond this second fence.

The back third of the acre is reserved for chicken-scratch and mulch growth. Various cover crops are cultivated here, and the skiddable coop is moved about the area in a cycle that provides fresh nourishment for the birds as well as ample fertilizer and pest control for the land.

In time, the tent will be removed from The Platform and a more resilient, more conventional structure will be there in its place. The cabin will likely be similar to the Swede-ified Sauna (found up at the Lab) in size, with slip-straw insulation, and a rocket mass heater to provide for year-round habitation. The tent's pole structure will be moved to the outside of the chickens' paddock, or perhaps within so as to provide the chickens with an all-weather shelter.

***

I admit this is all quite self-indulgent. However, if you're still reading and have any suggestions or feedback, please comment here. Thanks!

I see only one entance to your acre. Are you able to scale your proposed fence in case of emergency? Widfire in not common here. But it can happen.

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:I see only one entance to your acre. Are you able to scale your proposed fence in case of emergency?

Great question...! The fence will likely be a five-footer, of non-galvanized steel, like a typical farm fence. The second layer of the fence (to deter deer) will be of solid wood beams, but only four feet tall and with no mesh or anything like that. I've been told that this kind of fence arrangement scares off deer. I think in this case, the entirety of the fence assembly is escape-able if required.

Hans pointed out there's another fence, and this is actually a fence within the acre boundary. It essentially partitions off the back third of the plot. Not sure how to protect animals in wildfire situations, and as Paul's land had been affected by wildfires a handful of years ago, it's a legit concern. Maybe another gatehouse along the back wall of the plot would be useful.

Something to keep in mind, what you can scale today, you may not be able to do iin five years. Shit happens. Ticks happen. But gates or doors can be added too.

Our acre is roughly 100X400 feet. Not conducive for a quick escape. Good thing for me it's not fenced! I'm well past my fence jumping years.

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:Something to keep in mind, what you can scale today, you may not be able to do iin five years. Shit happens. Ticks happen. But gates or doors can be added too.

Our acre is roughly 100X400 feet. Not conducive for a quick escape. Good thing for me it's not fenced! I'm well past my fence jumping years.

Yup! I'd highly reccomend at least 1 gate on each side.