Hmmmm, I think (if it were me) I would for next year use some temporary frame to protect beans and peas. Once they get a bit of height they won’t be impacted by rabbits and birds, I don’t think (at least, here where I am, it’s really only very small stuff we have to protect from). Are you actually in a suburban area? Do you see deer in your yard ever? To do that (again, personally) I would just build a frame out of scrap wood and male it maybe a foot tall (maybe it doesn’t even need that much?) and staple small gauge bird netting to it. Then just move it when the plants get tall. (Caveat: I don’t have a problem with birds or rabbits eating my garden, but I do have problems with insects chomping sprouts and seedlings. (Actually - are you sure it is birds and rabbits?) I use mini cloches made out of plastic bottles (water, soda, milk, whatever I can get my hands on) to help protect them, mainly from slugs and snails. Once they are a few inches tall I can remove them and they are fine. But you could protect them much longer with larger cloches like 1/2 gallon or 1-liter bottles. YMMV.)
The only reason I am thinking to not dive into low or high tunnels immediately is that you have already laid out a lot of new beds and I think you might be overwhelmed as to the amount of work you have already given yourself by just having the beds. Like, it is going to be a lot of work and you are already going to be getting a huge yield without any protection (unless some things are completely decimated). Or, if you wanted to, just start with 1 bed and see if you even like the system. You might really dislike having the hoops up year-round. (I think I would.)
@druidessie yeah, I have heard of using the galvanized conduit (for electrical), but yeah, you need a tool to bend it. (I guess it’s not a big deal if you decided you really did want it and you have a lot to do.) @Greyweld If you went PVC route, well, long-term, make sure to get the UV-rated stuff, there is more than one kind, and the UV rated stuff will last longer in the sun. You can also paint it to help make it last longer.
Oh, they also sell little clips to attach the covers when you buy some kits. Maybe you can just buy the clips, or McGuyver something similar. I am not sure snaps through the plastic or thin frost blanket will hold up under stress (I am thinking primarily of wind), because when you install snaps you are actually puncturing the material and with plastic I am imagining it reducing the structural integrity. I have installed snaps in fabric, but never in plastic though, so it’s just a guess.
That’s totally reasonable. I haven’t even started and I’m already overwhelmed! I just got really discouraged last year that literally every single bean and pea plant got eaten. But it makes sense just to maybe drape over a protective barrier and anchor it down with rocks or something on the things I know got eaten last year. After all, my peppers, tomatoes, spinach, and squash had no pest issues. It was almost exclusively peas and beans that rabbits attacked, and mostly the spinach & broccoli that the deer took. So I can probably just try temporary nets over those. Especially since I don’t even know if I’ll like the placement of beds as they are, making something now that increases the permanency of those is probably unwise.
In theory, yes. In practice, the 15 cucumber seeds I direct seeded were all eaten either before or after sprouting by slaters, slugs, snails and ants. One or two probably didn’t sprout because I didn’t keep them damp enough. I think these two are big enough to survive a chomp or two?
I use DIY cloches made from plastic water/soda/milk bottles (easy to get from friends/neighbors/recycling bins if you don’t use any of these) to protect baby plants from slugs and snails when they are wee, because they seem to not want to climb up the slick sides of the bottles. At least, I have had luck with it (and have had slugs especially really do a number on very small seedlings, including beans and cucumbers). Might work?
This is probably an excellent idea for next winter, I will definitely try it. It won’t work now (late spring/summer) because my plants would be steamed to death.
Solution! I hope it works because this is a lovely hot area which cucumbers are apparently fond of.
Both cucumbers appear to be alive, but the stalk on one of them has shrivelled up? Really weird. I’ll get a pic later.
I wasn’t going to plant much more for the summer season, and then yesterday I managed to chop back all the morning glory from our raised garden bed. I’ve started topping it up with extra dirt, now I need to find out what I can plant in late November.
We aren’t getting any strawberries. They’re all being eaten by mealy bugs, which are apparently yet another thing the damn ants harvest in my yard. I am gonna have to visit the garden store to enquire about solutions.
In positive garden news for me, two mail order blue berries arrived today and in good health. They are to cross pollinate my current two blueberries plants that are going really well. Basically I misunderstood how blue berries need cross pollination and now have a second variety instead of two of the same.
Brightwell to cross pollinate existing Powder Blue.
I would think it may be inconsistent watering as they’re inside.
If they were outside here in Melbourne I’d just blame the weather. 30 and sunny one day, 16 and raining the next, plants haven’t had a chance to acclimate properly. Lost so much new growth to burning from the hot sun already this season.
I’m gonna try direct seeding some sunflowers today. At least the bugs in my yard are well fed.
Garden layout with sun solstice lines. North is down, just to confuse everyone. I’m planning the fruit trees to provide shade for these beds at the moment. Total number depends how closely I can plant them in the bed. I assume I’ll only buy dwarf (max 2.5m) varieties, maybe with a full size tree in the north west corner?
