A Quick Pen Gate: from scraps
This past Saturday I made the decision to add more does to the farm. The move from California to Kentucky took so much out of us financially, weathering all of the storms that occurred (four blown tires, sold retread, unplanned heat) that we had decided to wait a month to afford some furniture for the cabin. I was hoping to land myself a sofa sometime in the coming weeks however, God pulled the distractions away from my eyes and I woke up with the knowing that food must persevere over comfort. We have beds and a few chairs, we could very well wait for the comfort of a couch, but we have been in need of more does to sustain milk year-round and with Kentucky not allowing the sales of raw milks in their grocery stores, I couldn’t waste a minute more. Ironically, I came across a posting for doelings the following day and once the seller learned I needed them for a homestead, year-round milk and that I needed at least three, she struck a deal with me. Two precious girls is what she had left, and I told her I would take them.
Four hours both ways to Indiana Fox and I went.
The following day we decided to put all the girls including London in the old garden. There is a rectangle section off to the side of the cabin where someone seemed to have planned for a garden. There may have been no gate, but they left plenty of old wood, posts and fencing that just so happen to have lots of usable nails and hinges. Matthew began throwing things together to create a scrap gate, so I decided to snap a few photos in case any of you may need to throw a gate together in a pinch. Honestly, if we didn’t have plans to expand the garden at some point, I would never get rid of the gate. Old, worn and time ridden items will forever hold my heart. As if they are whispering tales of the past to you each time you gaze upon them. In fact, I may use this gate still in another area of our land.
W H A T W E U S E D
Staple gun
t50 staples
drill
2” + 1 1/4” wood screws
Circular saw
Tape measure
2x4 welded wire we found lumped next to the old garden
2x4 wood also found to create the frame
Just to mention yes, there are better materials to creating the gate of your dreams however - this was thrown together as a cost effective and quick solution.
Measured our space and then measuring our wood. We created the gate 1/2 inch smaller to give your self space on each side (if you make it the same size as your opening it will be to big). You can go as much as 1” smaller but, we just made it too our preference.
Added smaller blocks of wood on all four inner corners to secure the wire.
Adding our very used but sturdy hinges
