Much of this past weekend was spent working on the "back garden". Here is where I will be growing asparagus, raspberries and most of my warm season crops that need full sun. As you can see, I've put up a fence made of 2 x 4 inch wire mesh.
Interestingly, a rather large rabbit ended up in my garden Sunday afternoon after I had neglected to close my garden gate. While attempting to chase the scared animal out, it demonstrated a magical ability to fit through the wire mesh! I was amazed that an rabbit seemingly the size of a small cat could squeeze through such a tight opening. Nonetheless, the fence itself seems to deter them. But to be on the safe side I will sprinkle some blood meal around the perimeter and will consider adding chicken wire if they become a problem.
The potatoes I planted in this section of the garden are doing rather well. I've begun to hill up and will add a think layer of straw this upcoming weekend. In the back (or should I say front) of the potatoes, I transplanted Charantais melon, Sweet Delight Honey Dew melon and Spacemaster cukes.
Installing a veggie garden can be a lot of work. Hopefully, all of the work I've put into it this year will pay off in the long run.
Oh my dear your hard work will pay off. Everything looks great!
ReplyDeleteYou've been working hard, the garden looks nice, and the potatoes grow so fast and big already.
ReplyDeleteWow, Thomas! Your garden is turning into a real farm ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad you didn't know you had rabbits before you bought your wire fencing. They make a rabbit proof wire fence, with small openings at the bottom and the larger ones at the top. You might consider using that plastic mesh fencing material like I used around my lettuce beds. It worked very well to keep the rabbits out of my AZ garden, and it's only about $11 for a 50-foot roll of it. It's very easy to use.
My Grandpa used to catch the rabbits that ate his veggies and eat them. I have such fond memories of furry meat when I was 10. You are going to love the Charantais melons, they are so good!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your new garden! I hope these plants grow well and fulfill your expectations. So far everything looks very nice.
ReplyDeleteYou have created a lovely new garden area.
ReplyDeleteI did not get any melon seeds to germinate this year. I don’t know what happened, but now it’s too late to start the seeds again.
Nice looking garden. You sure put in a great deal of work!
ReplyDeleteRabbits are notorious at getting into fenced gardens. I've had my bunnies dig under the fence and squeeze through several feet above the small squares. Little Houdinis they are.
That is a nice size space Thomas, I hope you are well rewarded come Summer's end!
ReplyDeleteThe beds look great! You've got the right idea, get your stuff in and there will be time for tidying during the heat of summer while we are waiting on a harvest! I bet you are developing quite the farmer's tan and "set of guns" with all that digging LOL!
ReplyDeleteI'll probably try melons at my new house but not until next year. This year I'm stuck in a smaller spot there, but eventually I'll have more space.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good thing you scared the rabbit off - they can do some serious damage to a garden!
ReplyDeleteSoon your melon patch will be a sea of leaves and vines... and tucked underneath will be treasures of little fruit forming. The plastic mulch is definitely the way to go with the melon and squash crops. Huge difference in yeild from my experience.
ReplyDeletePotatoes look good and the garden is coming along nicely!
Wow, your garden is taking shape really quickly, it's beautiful!
ReplyDeleteRabbits, ugh, I don't envy you. I had a couple get through my fence last year, it is amazing how they can squeeze through little holes in a flash or find a way under the fence. I wasn't able to keep them out, or trap them in a havahart trap. They destroyed 90 percent of my edamame plants and started moving on to other goodies. One of my cats finally took care of the problem (good boy Zeke!).
the garden looks great!
ReplyDeleteI have rabbit issues also. Monday I came home from work to find all my radishes and pea leaves/stalks eaten down to dirt level...and I have a wire fence with the plastic fencing also around it!
I 'll have to try the bone meal and see if that works...
I mean Blood Meal.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work! My garden beds are entirely swathed in chicken wire to deter groundhogs. Oh, my. It is not gorgeous, but it is effective.
ReplyDeleteI've been enjoying my first year without major installations taking up my time in the garden. (Other things distract me, but not that back-breaking stuff!)
Good for you!
Looks great!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I get rabbits and the occasional woodchuck... Unfortunately, one of them can nibble through plastic, and my small children tend to hurt themselves on chicken wire, so I don't have a great solution. I keep using plastic and just hope it works. Maybe it is an inconvenience or visual deterrent. I found vinyl coated chicken wire once, but it said "Contains Lead" all over so I skipped it.
Hi, Your garden looks great. Could you please comment on the fencing around your garden? I am thinking of doing a similar thing, but I'm not sure how you go in and out. Do you have some kind of gate? And, if so, how did you make it?
ReplyDeleteWow...your back garden is really coming along! It looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteWith regard to the rabbits, I have always used spray to deter the rabbits. This worked well until last year when I had one very defiant rabbit! This year I placed chicken wire around the beds and also used the spray. It's working well.
Thanks for visiting my blog Thomas. Sorry to hear about the rabbits. They get in our garden too, but don't seem to be too much of a bother.
ReplyDeleteWe use Holly Tone by Espoma on the strawberries. Works great!
Your garden looks great, Thomas. I still have some things to get in the ground and then I can just concentrate on tending.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks for the link about the figs. Very helpful!
Thomas,
ReplyDeleteYour rabbit comment made me laugh out loud. I saw myself doing exactly the same thing. After all that effort the darn things can just jump through the holes!!
I meant to ask this a long time ago, but did you start your asian greens from seed, or did you get those as transplants?
Eleanor, if you go to the "garden projects" tab on my sidebar, you'll see past posts I've written regarding the fencing I use. In a nutshell, it's 2x4 inch mesh wire fencing held up by 4 foot tall wire stakes. All supplies can be bought at home depot. I made a door for my side garden which works just ok. This one, i will try something a little more basic.
ReplyDeleteMainland Gardener - I start all of my Asian Veggies from seeds. If you look on my sidebar, I have a few companies listed that sell a wide variety of Asian veggies.
Your gardens are looking great. I always enjoy your posts and especially the photos.
ReplyDelete