Sharing with Neighbors

I'm getting a fence between me and my neighbors so I can get a little bit more crazy in gardening in the backyard, but I'd like to share my produce with them.  Does anyone have a design for a basket or something that I can fill on my side of the fence and lift over to their side of the fence.  Then when they get the food out, they can put the basket back over?

Thanks!

How heavy do you want it to be, considering the upper body strength of the users, and how much produce do you want it to hold?

You might be able to use this bicycle basket as a model
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B092Z9GGQP/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9kZXRhaWwp13NParams

how tall will the fence be?

The fence is 6ft tall, and my neighbors are both vigorous but elderly if that makes sense.  So I'm thinking just a basket for a few eggs, a few tomatoes, cucumbers, acorn squash, etc.

How about a hatch and shelf at waist height, on both sides of the fence, so you can slide a basket from one side to the other?

Fences are wonderful, but there's an equally old-fashioned idea called a "gate". It allows the garden to be distinct and private, but it also allows one to open the gate and talk to a neighbor face to face. When Mother Nature blew down a fence by my garden area, my neighbor and I were rebuilding it (he had dogs, so a quick fix was essential). I asked about putting a gate between the new fence and some original fencing south of the garden area. We both agreed, and a third neighbor had a salvaged gate that would do the job with minimal fuss. We don't use it a lot, and it could easily be locked by either party if they were of that mind, but it allows us to help each other out with a minimum of fuss.

I hear you on the gate.  Unfortunately, all city ordinances in my town more or less are You can have chickens...unless your neighbors complain, you can have a fire pit...unless your neighbors complain.  I'm hoping that a fence will enable us to do a few more things, without neighbor complaints.  

My somewhat distant neighbor, she’s about four miles through the woods, has for many years grown a really large garden called “Joanne’s Garden of Eatin”. People were welcome to come, pick from a list of what as ripe, and leave a little money in a jar. She has a wealth of gardening knowledge so visiting her was always a reward, produce not withstanding.

But this year when I ran into her at a farmer’s market, she said that she was going to close the garden. I think that she is pushing ninety and she can’t find help. Most of us have gardens of our own and can’t lend much of a hand. Of course she’s still growing things, she may feel that some people were taking advantage. But she said that if I came by, and the gate was locked, to just come up to the house for a key.
(Nobody is going over the fence which is electrified to keep the deer out.)

She’s been a treasure for so long. I will visit, knock on the door and hope that she can come out to her garden gazebo for a chat. She needs to know that she’s missed.

roberta mccanse wrote:She’s been a treasure for so long. I will visit, knock on the door and hope that she can come out to her garden gazebo for a chat. She needs to know that she’s missed.

When you visit, tell her that you've shared her story with the wider world, and the response you got was: "Lordy, that's awesome. She's a hero. We need more like her."

Jason, where I live most places have fences and such, but there are often these little hinged doors people use to put their trash out without having to go outside, like in the picture below. Obviously that is for a metal fence, but I could see you making something like that built into a wooden fence too-- a V-shaped "door" on hinges, and definitely some sort of space for drainage, maybe a latch to keep it on your side when there's nothing on offer. Nobody needs to lift anything over the fence.

That is a very cool idea.  I'm going to think about that one a lot...