Garden fence build

[drumminj]

Now you need a She-Shed for all her garden tools, pots, hoses and crap they buy that never gets used for anything.

Did you run a water line into the green house?

Are you going to heat it?

I actually got a shelving unit in the garage to hold all those "things" (pots, garden tools, etc). It was a huge win.

I will run a water line out to a yard hydrant next to the greenhouse in the spring. We have a line run to one by the chicken coop with hoses running to the garden now...so just need to dig it up and tee off the line. Paid someone to do the chicken coop one, but I can do a better job than they did..just need to rent a trencher and buy tools for crimping PEX. Can't be that hard?

"Finished" it finally today. Lots more work than I expected (a recurring theme)

 

[drumminj]

You're going to need to get a load of tomatoes to help recover your bank account. I don't have a fence. My dog is on patrol and does a good job managing the critters and I only paid $150 for him plus dog food. I did put a single strand of electric fence wire up to keep him from laying in the soft ground and damaging new plants. I take it down later in the summer.

Yeah, I never said these projects were cost effective

 

[drumminj]

The 70+ deg days we had here last week make you think spring is right around the corner, so time for some more garden projects.

We had a pile of cedar lumber leftover from the build of our back porch I finally got around to putting to use. Built a bench for inside the greenhouse and a table that will live out in the garden. Kind of feels like a waste for such nice/finished cedar but it's just been sitting in the shop for a year so...

Next week I'll go pick up a bunch of rough-cut cedar for the raised beds.

 

[EddieWalker]

Have you started any plants in the greenhouse yet? Here in East Texas, we put onions in the ground last week.

 

[drumminj]

Have you started any plants in the greenhouse yet? Here in East Texas, we put onions in the ground last week.

I don't do the planting, but the better half planted some spinach, arugula and lettuce maybe a month ago or so.

Only thing in the ground is the garlic which is overwintering outdoors. However we've had a handful of warm streaks that has caused it to shoot up.

 

[gsganzer]

Have you started any plants in the greenhouse yet? Here in East Texas, we put onions in the ground last week.

View attachment 2668170

I haven't had a garden in years, but store-bought onions always seemed cheap enough that it was simpler to just buy them. I'd expend my gardening efforts on the more specialized crops that I liked having fresh and might spoil quickly.

 

[drumminj]

store-bought onions always seemed cheap enough that it was simpler to just buy them

Isn't this true of most things you can grow in the garden? At backyard garden scale I don't think much is actually cheaper to grow. It sure is nice being to walk out and grab fresh veggies or herbs when needed though.

 

[2manyrocks]

Store tomatos and corn aren't anywhere as good as home grown.

I don't think as many people grow gardens as they used to because of all of the work involved.

druminj must be as serious as they come about his gardening judged by the amount of work he's done putting up his fence. All I do for mine is to run a couple of strands of hot wire to try to keep the deer out.

 

[drumminj]

druminj must be as serious as they come about his gardening judged by the amount of work he's done putting up his fence. All I do for mine is to run a couple of strands of hot wire to try to keep the deer out.

LOL. No, I just like putting more time, effort, and money into things than they're worth . Gives me projects to keep me busy and I'm still "new" enough to this that I have the energy to put in extra effort just for looks.

 

[2manyrocks]

I don't recall the home gardening shows that used to be on TV having a fence as nice as yours.

 

[EddieWalker]

In 2018 my wife had Colon Cancer. Since her recovery, she has become very sensitive to the stuff that's added to the food that we buy at the stores. Frozen meals are the worse, but a lot of canned stuff is also really bad. We try to buy what we know is safe for her to eat, but the only thing that is 100% safe is grown in our garden.

Our goal is to grow enough to not have to buy anything from Aldi's, Walmart, Sam's or Brookshires, but we know that's impossible. So the more we can grow ourselves, the fewer issues that she will have.

Right now we have 24 raised beds. We're adding buckets and planters for potatoes this year. Our long term goal is to have twice as many raised beds.

 

[gsganzer]

Isn't this true of most things you can grow in the garden? At backyard garden scale I don't think much is actually cheaper to grow. It sure is nice being to walk out and grab fresh veggies or herbs when needed though.

No doubt. Especially with tomatoes, corn, squash etc. An onion, not so much. I'll leave onions to someone else to grow and reserve my labor for the more perishable/rewarding stuff.

 

[gsganzer]

Eddie,
I know you and Karen do a lot of canning. Have you looked into the freeze drying? I see a lot of homestead folks touting it. The dryers are crazy expensive though.

 

[EddieWalker]

We haven't looked into it. Between working full time, adding on to our house, projects on the land, the dogs, the animals, and keeping the garden going, it's a struggle just to get everything canned. But I have to admit, her salsa and spaghetti sauce is really good, and worth the effort!!!

 

[drumminj]

But I have to admit, her salsa and spaghetti sauce is really good, and worth the effort!!!

Any recipes you'd be willing to share? We hadn't gotten to that point yet, but I suspect spaghetti sauce and salsa are likely this year.

 

[drumminj]

I don't recall the home gardening shows that used to be on TV having a fence as nice as yours.

Thanks, I think? . Let's just hope it both keeps critters out and stays up for a while!

We definitely have deer (six were a few feet from our front door the other morning), a red fox, armadillos, possums (at least two) and three rabbits in close proximity to the house. Oh, and the turkeys. As long as they don't tear up the garden I'm happy to have them around -- it's fun seeing them on the cameras.

 

[EddieWalker]

Any recipes you'd be willing to share? We hadn't gotten to that point yet, but I suspect spaghetti sauce and salsa are likely this year.

I'll have to ask her if there is anything written down. She does most things from taste and memory. I should also say that I'm just the helper. I do the building, lifting, the carrying and the stacking. I don't get involved in anything actually involved in cooking or creating food. Last year we had 100 tomato plants. I'm pretty sure there will be more this year.

For Valentine Day, I'm giving her a dozen grow bags and two dozen sacks of Compost Soil.

 

[drumminj]

Went and got cedar for the raised beds before the snow hit us yesterday evening. Rought-cut cedar is so dang pretty (and smells nice . Almost hate to put it outside and allow it weather.

 

[EddieWalker]

I hope the cedar works for you. I used PT wood and it was great for about ten years, but now it's rotting at the ends and starting to come apart. I'm going to use cinder blocks to rebuild the beds, but I might start building new ones first. That way we won't lose anything in the existing beds.

 

[drumminj]

I'm going to use cinder blocks to rebuild the beds

What do you mean by using cinder blocks?

We had considered using those cement corners that hold lumber in place to make it easier to swap out a rotted board (like these: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Oldcastle-...in-x-8-in-Actual-5050-in-x-7-75-in/1001156396) but it didn't look like it would accomodate the rough cut lumber thickness.

I'm hoping the 2" thick cedar will hold up as long as your pressure treated did. I built a raised planter out of the same material a few years ago and so far no signs of issues, but I haven't looked closely at the inside part exposed to the soil.

As far as "coming apart", I plan to not just screw through the face grain of one board into the end grain of another at the corner, but use 2x2 braces as well to have a solid connection. This'll also hold the two stacked boards together (going to do 2-high 2x6s for veggies and 2-high 2x4s for flowers). I lose a little volume in the bed but hopefully a fair trade for longevity.