Well I'm almost a month behind last year's gardening schedule but between the weather, having a lot going on and some issues with my back (herniated disc) I'm just now getting around to getting it in. If the rains will hold off today most everything should go in tomorrow and Sunday. While I'm waiting for things to dry out I thought I would share my latest and greatest (maybe) idea for some of the plants.
Last year I had a problem with some root rot on my squash and my cucumbers sort of grew out and spread all over the ground, making it hard to walk and hard to pick. After seeing this in someone else's garden I thought I would give it a shot. You will need the following:
A 50' long roll of fencing, some wire cutters and some zip ties. I used that to create these...
Not your everyday flimsy cages! These cages are made with 6' sections of the fence, they stand 5' tall and hopefully will each be able to support the weight of 5-6 squash or cucumber plants once trained to grow "up" instead of out and all over the ground. A couple of notes though once I got going. Try to cut the fence very close to the joints and be very careful of the rough edges...very careful. As it springs back when you cut into it-it can bite ya!
Luckily it looks worse than it was but my arms look a bit like I have been in a cat fight. I zip tied most of the rough joints where the cage meets at the ends so that should help. Another note-after putting them together Leslie tried to stick his hand into one and it wouldn't fit-making it almost impossible to pick veggies from inside the cage-yikes! Luckily my hand fits in ok, but you may want to play with different sized openings in your wire fence. I think once buried in the ground I'll be able to reach down into them and grab what I need.
It was nice to be back outside, getting some physical work done and putting some sweat equity into the garden-even if it wasn't actually playing in the dirt!
I plan on putting them in, planting the seeds around the outsides and then "training" the plants up and around. I'll keep you posted on how they turn out...Happy Good Friday!
