Building Veggie Cages

The idea to build these tomato cages came while watching a garden show on TV. I can't remember exactly which show it was but that doesn't matter because we changed up the design slightly and modified the building process.

We used old wood from previous demos here at 'The Gear'. Our stash of old wood is now reduced to small pieces and plywood. Either we need to tear something down or we will now have to resort to actually buying wood for our projects.

First step was to buy a roll of fencing. This will determine the measurements you use to cut all your wood. Remember to buy fencing with large openings that are big enough to get your hand or a large tomato through the opening.We cut sections of the fence into lengths that were 4 squares (openings) wide. This made the sides of the cage about 20 inches wide. This particular cage will house pole beans so we are making it twice the height of the fence.

We ripped used lumber into roughly 2 x 2 lengths using the table saw. The TV show ripped a groove down the middle of the 2 X 2 so that you could insert the fencing. We did that for this cage be will modify all future cages to omit this step and just use double pointed staples to hold the fence in place. We found that the groove did not entirely hold the fence in place and that a staple was needed to keep the fence from slipping out of the groove. So if you are going to use staples anyways why bother with cutting the groove in the first place.I painted the sides using flat black spray paint so that it would hopefully look like black iron. I would suggest painting the wood before assembling but I was unable to because it has been raining and I wanted to spray paint outside.Once we had the cage fully assembled and painted it was time to guild the lily. In my attempt to make the cage look like it was assembled out of wrought iron I felt I needed some sort of ornamentation on each corner. So I used a doll head. Say what!!!!???? Yup you read that right a doll head. I went to Michael's Craft store and bought little round wooden balls that they use as doll heads. They worked great because they were flat on one side and were predrilled. I drilled the hole completely through and inserted a nail. I could have used a doubled threaded stud but they are rather expensive and I wanted to keep this project on the cheap side. You could also use old wooden drapery finials or really anything that is interesting and would hold a coat of paint. Wouldn't a small bird look cute perched on the top of the cage?Once the wooden balls were installed I squirted them with some flat black paint and we were done. We will make two more tall cages for pole beans and 5 short cages for tomatoes. I think these cages could also be planted with a climbing rose or maybe clematis plants. They are definitely more visually appealing than the standard wire tomato cages. This would be a great winter project but unfortunately I didn't get the idea until a month ago. Oh well, C'est la vie (such is life).

Yankee Candle has Seed Mats on Sale

Use this promo code XF912A2 to save $10 on a $20 order at the Yankee Candle site.

They currently have seed mats on sale. The three types are wildflower, butterfly garden, and giant pumpkin. See mats are 17 inches wide and 5 feet long. I bought the butterfly garden mat for $1.75 each. That is about the price of one packet of seed.

The seed mats are listed under What's on Sale/miscellaneous.This the description of the butterfly garden mat that I purchased.

Attract multitudes of butterflies with this colorful blend of cornflowers, cosmos, coreopsis, black-eyed Susan, zinnia and more. Contains both annuals and perennials for quick and long lasting color in summer. 17 x 5 long.

Pinespple Sage in Bloom

Talk about a late bloomer. My pineapple sage has started to bloom.This sage smells just like pineapple. I haven't tried this herb yet but I think pineapple sage would go nicely with ham. I'll have to try that next year.

A Pair of Pears

What a lovely pair of pears. These two perfect pears came from a tree in our yard. This was the first time this particular tree has had fruit and it only produced two pears. We do not spray our fruit trees but we do add organic fertilizer in the spring.

Go to my kitchen blog to see what I did with these two pretty pears.

I will need to get out my binder to find out exactly which variety this is but I am going to take a stab and say they are Bartlett pears.

Hardy Hibiscus

I thought this plant had died. I know that they don't pop out of the ground until late May or early June. But seriously it didn't start to grow until July and then I thought it might just be a weed.

I am not sure of the exact variety of hibiscus but it is a cross between red and hot pink.
Rain drops on a red Knock Out rose.One of the few Midnight Blue roses that was not devoured by Japanese beetles.
The gardens are winding down and soon I will be cutting flowers back, throwing out tomato plants, and raking leaves.

End of Summer Produce

Earlier this spring I bought a bag of discounted bulbs. I threw them in a pot and forgot about them. Look what I have now.......Isn't it beautiful. I think it is an anemone. I'll have to check my folder to be sure but I do know that whatever it is isn't hardy and that is why I planted them in a pot. I don't particularly care for bulbs or plants that need to be dug up in the fall, stored all winter, and replanted in the spring. I just don't have the time. But I think for these lovely blooms I will make an exception to the rule.

The photo below shows the Royal Standard hostas that I transplanted. You can also see the Irish and Scotch mosses that I planted last month. This is probably as far as I will get on this project this year.

The utility company, Consumers Energy, marked some of our trees for removal. Thank goodness they came by when they did as I was just getting ready to call the tree trimmers to remove them.
Time is running out on the produce here at 'The Gear'. The tomatoes are past their prime but are slowly turning out a dozen or so every day. I've been passing our extras on to neighbors family, friends, and anyone who will even look my way. Cathy, my neighbor, has been canning. She past along a a couple of jars of stewed tomatoes. I used one jar the other day. I mixed it with a carton of V8 herbal tomato soup and then poured it over some fresh 4 cheese ravioli. It was soooooo good.
The Asian pears are ripe. What in the world do you do with three trees full of pears? I also have an additional 2 trees with Comice and Keifer pears but those trees only have a few pears each. The red Bartlett pear tree is still young and did not produce fruit this year.
Check out the size of those pears. What a pair of pears!Next year when I have a little more time I will try and make pear sauce and apple/pear sauce. I did bake a pear cobbler but was disappointed in the results. R says it was just fine but it wasn't what I expected. It seemed too doughy. I think I actually wanted a crisp or something along that line.

A Special Box Arrived Today

A box arrived in the mail today from my blogger friend Sandy. It was a box of iris bulbs.
R loves irises. So recently I purchased several bulbs to add to our iris collection. But now I have a bountiful supply of blue irises. Thank you Sandy.

I was able to plant three areas with iris bulbs....in front of the house, side yard by the deck, and out front by the fence. This will give me color in the yard between the tulip/lilac bloom time and peony bloom time.

Thank you again Sandy.