Varmit Frames for the Garden

MONDAY MORNING:  I'm referring to the garden frames that I'm going to construct with found objects. The purpose is to keep birds, rabbits, and deer from select rows of my culinary garden. The framing/fencing must keep varmits out, but be easy to place and remove, so that the gardener is not fenced from the garden. Why call this project varmit frames? When finished, they will be the size of varmit traps, all frame and space, similar to raccoon traps sold at TSC.

While grooming our trails this past weekend, I realized there were a number of saplings and grapevine we were tossing into the inner meadows that would be great for small projects such as varmit frames and twig furniture. I saved several pieces, and just now pulled down some grapevine out of some young walnut. The grapevine were coaxed into a galvanized tub of water to soften, and I'm enjoying a warmup of my coffee from this morning while I wait for the pliability to happen. I only wish I had been with Dad when he was working with grapevine. He did such a lovely job, crafting wreaths, Christmas trees, and cornucopias. I was five-hundred miles away, and one of several grateful recipients of his artistic gifts, but missed out on the process and technique.

I love working with found objects. There is a certain thrill that comes with locating something in the woods or elsewhere in the house that I can use for a newly discovered purpose. It's almost a child-like joy, which reminds me of my granddaughter, Anna Kate. You had better be prepared when taking her through a corn maze or an apple orchard. She stops every five seconds to pick up a found object, corn or apple, and carry it home. If only we could see those wheels spinning in that sweet little head of hers, and find out what she plans for her armload of goodies.

MONDAY AFTERNOON
Lessons Revisited: (1) It is very hard to work with bifocals. I work in the garage, which is relatively dark, but with the luxury of Dad's workbench and vice. Oh, how I wish we had better light in there, and everything I need to really evaluate is directly in the midline of my bifocal. (2) I can't hammer worth a flip. I'm using whatever nails I find in our inventory. I did learn from the Chicken Chateau project and am drilling the holes for the wood screws, which will hold the bottom frames together. Thank you Schemms for giving Bruce that power drill. We'd be helpless without it. I'm nailing the overhead grapevine hoops with small finish nails. (3) When doing woodworking, one needs to hammer and saw into a fixed product. Since this project is all frame, it is really hard to confine and stabilize. It will be even more of a challenge when I add the chicken wire. I'll be stapling that on, and need to find a way to restrain that frame. We learned all this before, working on the Chicken Chateau.

Lessons Learned: (1) This project works better with really straight, uniform pieces. I thought my wood was straight and uniform until I began to work with it. Of course there is that gradual taper to the top and twisting of the limbs. Therefore, this project requires a great deal of product and culminates with a lot of waste. I recall this phenomenon watching Pat Bennett create her gorgeous wedding flowers. They were knockout when she was all done, but the floor of her basement was strewn with three times as many stems, leaves, and flowers that were cut from the final selection. I am amazed with how much more wood and grapevine I'm needing. Although there is a bounty of natural product on this five acres, there is a limit. (2) It's really cold in the garage, even on a mild day. Shame on me. I have plenty of warm, outdoor gear. Also, one can never have enough old, worn out, loose, garments for grunge projects. When I finish up tomorrow, I'll be dressed for the activity.

Value of Project: This project will be so helpful in the garden, streamlining my work and protecting our produce. This project is also a dry run for the twig furniture. I don't really care how this looks, but I'm evaluating all the processes and challenges for the tables, which will have to be both solid and attractive.

TUESDAY MORNING: We have 24 hours of rain coming in this morning, so I ran out and fed and watered the hens, gathered my grapevine, brought the galvanized tub from the Bonfire Shed up to the house and added water and grapevine, and gathered twine and plastic coated wire from the Garden Shed. I'll finish my indoor chores and then hopefully finish late this morning.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Oh my goodness, this has been a typical Colegate project, which historically takes 2 to 3 times as long as one anticipates. Working with wobbling tree limbs, corkscrew grapevine, and rusted chicken wire didn't help break the curse. It doesn't look like much, since it's mostly space, but this construction was a physical challenge. This project was quite the contortionl workout, too. I crawled under, into, and bent upside down hammering and stapling. I also made multiple trips to the Garden Shed, scrounging for more appropriate nails and pieces of chicken wire.

What I regretted but had to do was cut off the tendrils of the grapevine. There was no way I could stretch the chicken wire over the grapevine frame with the tendrils in place. I used the grapevine not for decorative purposes, but for the curve of the wood. Broke my heart. Nor could I drill the handle, a 5 inch piece of locust that I wanted to perhaps thread with grapevine. I'll take that over to Ken Case on Thursday or Friday, and he'll drill that for me with a heavier drill. Then I'll be done. I'll store the frame in the hedgerow opening by the garden. We'll see how it overwinters.



Varmit Frame for Garden