evan's ant village log

I am loving these updates! Keep them coming!

If I remember right, bees and beavers typically work about five hours a day.

Day 10

I helped Tim and Kristie move some more of their stuff this morning, and helped load their pigs onto a trailer. I didn't expect to get much more out of it than a meal, but they quite generously gifted me a whole pile of calf panels! Wow! Thanks guys! These will be a great start to getting my gardens fenced in. I spent the rest of the morning dragging the panels over to my site, and I'm hoping to get them set up tomorrow morning.

My ant plot was one of the last places they kept their herd of cows last year, and the cattle left behind some gifts of their own as well. Thanks again!

There's so much to do and so many things I can pick from to talk about in this log, but one thing I've been trying to do is post at least one picture of a new and different species of plant, animal, or fungus every day. Today's pic is of this crazy-looking giant beetle. This little guy had some seriously sharp spurs on the backs of his legs that helped him grip the log he was on. He would not be moved.

Day 11

I started fencing off a section of ground in the southern corner of my plot using calf panels. I cut down some trees using a bow saw, cut them to length, and de-limbed them, ending up with some pretty nice fence posts. I dug holes about 2 ft deep, planted the posts in them, and then filled the holes back in, tamping as I went.

The calf panels alone won't be tall enough to keep out deer, but I reckon I'll start planting anyway, and maybe I'll find the time to make the fence taller before my seedlings start coming up.

I really appreciate all the lovely feedback, questions, and comments everyone's been posting here. I'm glad to have y'all along for the ride. I'll try to address everybody's questions eventually, but I like this format where all my posts in this thread are media-rich daily updates. I especially appreciate comments aimed at identifying the species in the pictures. I can use all the help I can get when it comes to learning about the local flora and fauna. Thanks!

Thanks for the updates, Evan. Really enjoying them.


I had a thought about the panels.
A second fence-line within the first one, maybe two feet in or so, would probably keep out the deer.
It won't be high, but the depth of two fence lines will stop them. You can still plant in between and the fence will double as trellis on the inside loop.
Might make a decent chicken run too.
That might be more fence than you want to put up but I thought I'd throw it out there. It might make better use of the same material.

depending on howmuch of that calf panel netting you have, you could just put a second run around the top above the first.

Or eat venison, rabbit and turkey.

hi Evan,

on a video somewhere here
there was a talk from a "forest person"
I think he was talking about roads
but he mention that he discovered
that deer won't go where their feet might get trapped
ie brush piles
he found saplings growing surrounded by brush
while others were chewed to the ground
might be worth finding and looking at

You can extend the height and possibly even cover the top with plastic bird netting. Tie some bright survey ribbons in it so the deer recognize it is there. Some videos I have watched have covered the panels with it to keep small birds in or out as the case may be.

I wonder if a visible line, string, flagging tape or single strand of wire strung up high would deter deer from jumping?