Bird proofing the garden

This project was at our  Williams Drive home and you can see I have some help on the ladder work.  I didn't trust myself anymore to work that far off the ground.  I had already fallen a couple times building the stone wall around the pool.  No broken bones yet but why risk it?  This garden was tucked in on the north-west side of the house and extended to a wall on the edge of a deep wash.  I used square steel tubing and flat preformed sheet metal strips for the structure.  Aviary wire was attached over this frame and fastened with wire.  That is what these two helpers are shown doing in the photograph.  A raised planting bed can be seen on the left side of the space and ground level planting areas are located to the right of the sidewalk running through the project.  I used drip irrigation on a timer and four soft fruit trees were planted in the corners.



















This space worked well and the birds, rabbets and other forms of wild life were forced to seek another source for their dinner.  We enjoyed having fresh fruit and vegetables.  The kitchen door was through the gate at the far end of the garden and around the corner to the right a few feet.  I have always had a garden where ever we live.  I guess the saying is accurate in my case, "You can take a boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy."

*More detail on my art can be found at my website <www.apatchablue.com>

 Also, my autobiography, volume 2, which will be coming out next year has more detail on this period in my life.  The link to my books on the publisher's web site is:  http://www.wheatmark.com/catalog/entry/Which-Road-Should-I-Follow-Volume-I-Growing-up-in-the-Country