I need less room!

A little project today that may seem a little strange to you: I need to make less room for myself in the veggie garden!

It's not so much that I need less growing area, it's that there's a bit of space wasted inside the fenced area where I grow my edibles. Space that could be put to better use.

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You see, after I remade these raised beds this spring, I left a wider pathway behind this main bed than I really need:

Although it was nice to be able to walk back here without having to squeeze between the fence and plants, it's unnatural -- I'm used to having virtually no space for access!

So today I'm going to move the back wall of the fence in about a foot (12", 30cm).

This will give me a bit more space between the property line (marked by the metal pole on the left) and the fence -- which will soon be important.

The first step was to clear out all of the "junk": a pole that the cypress vine climbed:

Some extra poles used for summer plant support, concrete chunks and bricks that were being used for fence reinforcement, loose netting used for pea trellises earlier this year:

Did I mention that the fence needs some repairs too? Good thing I didn't waste time repairing this last year, or the year before, right?

So I removed the two corner posts and one middle one of that back wall. I knew they have been loose the last couple of years, but I didn't realize that the part underground no longer existed!

They were just resting on top of the soil. I wonder how the fence stayed upright? Chicken wire seems to be all that was holding much of it together.

New supports went in:

Some adjustments needed to be made (I had the hand saw ready):

It decided to replace one of the side posts since I had an extra. It really started leaning once I detached the back corner:

The wood of that one support was much more durable than the others, but still not in good shape -- just the core remained:

It's actually quite surprising that any wood was left, as these have been in the ground for at least five years.

With that side fixed I could reattach the back crossbeam...

...the work on the fence was complete!

There was a bit of extra chicken wire to fold over and tighten up:

That was simple work though -- just fold and bend. (Much easier than getting a decent photo of chicken wire.)

Ah, that's the narrow access I'm accustomed to!

So now I have an extra foot of space outside the fence. What am I going to do with it? You'll find out tomorrow.

This wasn't the most exciting project I've ever done, but necessary nonetheless.

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