Crop Protection on a Small Scale
I’m more usually writing about large gardens or small farms, and in the case of protecting crops from pests, long rolls of rowcover or netting. But if you have a small number of important plants you could consider using a food safe. These netting structures close like umbrellas for storage, and keep bigger insects out.
The eggplants above have just been moved outdoors after being raised indoors without any netting, when they suffered aphid predation. The food safe fabric wouldn’t keep tiny insects off – it’s like tulle (bridal veiling). Outdoors it can keep insects and small rodents away, but not whatever creature especially love Swiss chard! This garden had a single chard plant in a bed of tatsoi, pakchoi and Napa cabbage. Those Asian greens stayed protected under the food safes. An exposed row of spring kale was not eaten either. But over a few days Something ate the whole chard plant down to the ground!
The creature ripped through two sides of the food safe (entry and exit?) If you have any idea which creature particularly loves Swiss chard, please leave a comment at the end of this post.
Crop Support on a Fairly Small Scale
In the same garden is this trellis for restraining raspberries in a way that can be easily dismantled to mow for fall fruiting. Fall raspberries fruit on the primocanes, the ones that grow that spring. There are particular varieties developed for fall fruiting, and some that can be used either for summer or fall fruiting, depending how you prune them. They are a great way to extend the fruit season, and their pruning is simplicity itself! Roll up the cords or wires. Mow the canes down after fruiting, and weed. In early spring, thin the canes to 2″ apart, install and tension the wires or cords between the posts.
The same system can be used for summer raspberries, but you’ll have to deal with the wires while pruning, as in other trellis systems.
This trellis uses 4″ x 4″ posts with crosspieces at 1.5′, 3′ and 5′. They have holes drilled towards the ends and paracord threaded through.
At the far end the cords are tensioned using plastic “camjam” cord tighteners. You could alternatively just pull and tie them off for the season. On a larger scale using wire you could use something from the fencing supplies.
