Timberline Homestead A self sufficient homesteading life
Getting the garden plot situated has been much slower going than hoped. Plants that were started in pots have now outgrown them and we’re not ready to put up the fence yet. You’ll soon see a post outlining the leveling of the garden area and the erection of the fence…we’re nearing completion.
In the mean time, to save the plants in the pots a second raised bed was built and the ground beneath it was leveled. I was very apprehensive about putting my dear plants that were grown from seeds out in the open for any passersby to munch on. However, I didnt want to get too involved in making a temporary fence that would a) waste materials and b) be too time consuming to dismantle when the time comes.
The solution: A frame to connect bird netting to which would enclose the raised bed.
Small supports were cut down to roughly 14″ in length. These were nailed to the inside of the bed. A nail was also sunk just enough to be sturdy in the tops of the supports to later hold the bird netting in place.
Nails were also left protruding from the outside of the bed. This will act as a hook for the bird netting.
Next the bird netting was cut to size. I left a lot of overhang for the sides which came in handy a few weeks later when the netting had to be raised to allow for plant growth. Word of caution for those who are about to work with bird netting for the first time: roll the netting out on as clean/even a surface as possible. I rolled this out in the dirt as you can see where there are hundreds of tiny twigs and picking those out of the netting requires a lot of patience. This step was the most time consuming of the entire project.
Next the netting was put in place. Only lightly anchoring in the nails turned out to be a huge benefit after working with the net covered bed for a few weeks. I was able to easily pull out the nails to roll the netting back for easy access watering and working inside the bed.
I still wasn’t prepared to leave the youngsters in there. I wasn’t convinced that the flimsy netting would deter any would be salad bar eaters. This young zucchini would be the bait for 4 nights. One sacrifice would be worth saving the lives of many!
I spotted a few deer grazing about 10 feet from this bed. They never bothered trying to get whats inside. Eventually the bed was filled and about 2 months out still have had no problems with pests.
