Every year brings something brand new; this season my goals are to keep the deer from eating everything, hold onto as much moisture as I can, and keep the weeds at a reasonable level. The question is how to make it all happen. 

At first Grant and I thought about building a fence around the garden area. We couldn’t agree on the type of fence. He wanted an 8-ft tall chain link to keep it neat and tidy without sagging. I thought that looked too industrial, especially since my gardens are used for photos in the articles I often write for magazines. That’s not the look I’m going for in any of them. I thought wooden posts, which would keep the wire straight, was the best bet. But after fighting the grass around the existing fence, I decided I really didn’t want any of it. 

Since I still need to keep the deer out of the veggies, the big question was how to do it? A couple of years ago I bought a roll of greenhouse plastic and 20 ft. long PVC pipes (thankfully, a friend is a plumber who could get me a deal and deliver them on his big trailer). My intent was to create low tunnels, but I veered off in a different direction. Now I’m really happy I didn’t use it, nor did I get rid of it. (One of the advantages of being a pack rat.)

Low Tunnels

The plan to keep the deer out is to put low tunnels over each of the 4 x 8 ft. gardens. I’ll show the details on how I attach the PVC and the greenhouse plastic in a future entry since my first course of action is to build the frames (or talk Grant into it since it drives him crazy to watch me do it), install the drip hose, cover the beds with weed fabric, and plant them. After all of that I can screw on the brackets, bend over the PVC, and attach the plastic. 

So far planting is going well, even if it is slower than normal. In 2 of my existing raised beds, I seeded the veggies such as carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach, radishes, and beans because the weed fabric wouldn’t fit nicely within the existing ones. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to water everything inside of them. I’m not sure if a drip hose is going to do the trick.  I’ll put the plastic over them in the next week or so. 

Frames

Grant built 2x6x8 ft. frames for me today. I am not going to make them into raised beds where they’re filled with soil. Instead, they are put on top of the weed fabric to keep it neatly in place. In one I planted cabbage, celery, broccoli, and kale. I haven’t planted the second one, but I’m leaning towards cucumbers and kohlrabi. In the other beds that still need to be built, I want lots of ‘Carmen’ peppers, probably more celery, ground cherries, basil, Italian parsley, and more carrots/beets.

I’ve been on a beet kicking lately and at $3.49 for 3. I figure it will definitely be worthwhile to dedicate more space to them. I was scratching my head at where to put the tomatoes, since the deer ate the actual plants last year, and have decided to plant all of them in the greenhouse. Once again, hopefully with drip hose and weed fabric I won’t have the issues with everything but tomatoes taking over the space. 

I’m not used to having my spring planting take as long as it is, but I really think putting in the extra time and effort into it now will pay off later in the season when I’m not overwhelmed with weeds. I will be sure to report later in the summer to let everyone know how it goes.