Fence restrung

This is our cover crop of field peas tilled in. That mass on the left is the section we planted late. They weren't as dry and got caught up in the tiller tight. there was a lot of yanking and pulling, a certain amount of cussin' and some knife work.

To get at the peas, I had to unstring the fence. I had foreseen this when I built the fence, so I put loops on each fence wire. The loops allow me to attach a ratchet strap and keep the rest of the fence line tight while I put down this end. It makes getting the fence backup a lot easier. This way I only have to pull out the sag from between two posts to get it threaded into the tensioner. For the wire at the eight foot level, it makes a big difference.

I'll probably need to drop this fence three or four times a year so I can get in and till, spread compost, etc. There is a tractor path that goes down the middle and has a cross in the middle. But during the growing season, it's tight to get in there and I would have had to cross active beds to get to the field peas.

My wife planted field peas to start amending the soil. This is our first year growing in the new big garden. The soil is not great, silty sand. We're working hard to amend it, the peas will add organic material and nitrogen. We'll also be spreading composted manure later this year.