My husband built a trellis for my beans. My neighbor calls it the tunnel of love. It was definitely a labor of love. He built it so I could stand up and pick. I love Roma bush beans but they kill my back to pick. Last year we planted Kentucky Wonder pole beans and my gosh were they prolific. They were so heavy with beans they pulled down some of the stakes. So this year he made a permanent solution. You can just see the beans popping up. We still need to finish staining it. He made it with culled fence posts. The fence company was going to trash them so they were free. We had enough for the trellis and to line my asparagus bed and kale/broccoli/cabbage bed. Last year he made boxes for my herbs, lettuce and spinach. A lot of my herbs came back this year so I will be drying some soon. I have 41 tomato plants this year. My past record was 36 and I still canned some our neighbor gave me. I smoke them instead of blanching and they are delicious. This year I planted 10 San Marzano- A first. I’m also trying Mortgage Lifter and I had one Cherokee Purple which was a first for me but the chipmunks ate it. Those stepping stones in the last picture surround the tomatoes and pepper plants. This allow me to sit on the ground to weed without getting wet. My husband was a tile contractor and this is left over granite tiles. Not shown in the pictures is a corn plot (9 rows| 40 plants per row. It was just planted yesterday so nothing to see yet. And beyond that are boxes for zucchini, squash and cucumbers. And along three sides of the fence we have blackberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, and a strawberry patch.
by Dizzy_Variety_8960
8 Comments
That tunnel is a beauty! Very jealous of all your space and plants. Have you had success with hay vs bark mulch? One year I tried it and it all blew to one side of the yard
Very nice and sturdy,
You could stop a tank with that trellis..
Yes it works good for us. The area is fenced. We wet the straw down as soon as we lay it, and after a few rains it stays put. I would rather use pine needles, but I don’t have enough. So I just put a little around each plant and in my beds. My husband calls it a bird’s nest. But it keeps the tomatoes from getting diseases from the ground soil. One they are established and visibly growing, I cut the bottom leaves off up to the first blossom. Since I started doing this I have very few diseased plants. If I see any bad leaves, I cut them off and remove it from the garden. I also remove my tomatoes at first blush so the birds and chipmunks don’t get them. We electrify the top of the fence once the corn comes up. The raccoons would destroy it otherwise. One year they knocked down every stalk and took a few bites out of each ear. Now with the electric top wire they don’t bother it. Our only trouble now is chipmunks. They are so cute. They are hard to hate, but they are a terrible nuisance. I had a spouted acorn in my lettuce bed. They dig everywhere!! If anyone has a good solution for those rascally critters let me know. I’ve been gardening for years and they just found us. They are having a smorgasbord at our expense.
I’m not showing any of this to my wife
Wow. You are a lot more meticulous than I am. I would love my garden to look like this. My garden is constant chaos.
Happy planting!
Damn. Get you some. That is purdy
This is incredible! Please post updates when everything is all grown in! What a great guy!
Looks great. How tall is the trellis in the middle ?