As I get older, I have to think about my physical limitations in the garden, especially the vegetable garden.
This photo shows Ecobed.3 in which I grow tomatoes, capsicum and cucumbers in the warmer months, and I use timber frames and braided cord to support them as they grow. The timber frames used last year were interconnected and 1800mm tall, This year I am using more robust, free standing, 1400mm frames each providing support for one of the 5 rows of vegetables.
Its now much easier to reach the tops of the plants for pruning and harvesting, and its much safer to reach up and fit the 50% shade-cloth I use to protect the plants when the weather gets too hot.
In autumn, I grow a green manure to keep the soil healthy, and through winter I grow bush peas (nitrogen fixing) and beetroot. The new frames stay in place during this time, but I remove the special barriers used to provide protection from digging birds, and anchor the cord used to support the climbing crops (shown in the last photo below). Instead, I use a pair of pest exclusion frames similar to the ones in the background of the photo above (Ecobed.4). More about these frames below.
In Ecobed.1, I grows onions and garlic in the cooler months. In the warmer months I grow bush peas, bush beans, cauliflowers and celery. To keep pesky birds and flying insects at bay, I use two pest exclusion frames (shown above). They are very versatile, and its much easier to access my crops than with previous designs.
Each exclusion frame can be collapsed to a compact 5 piece flat pack for storage or maintenance Each panel has its own removable insect net (this makes periodic painting and netting replacement easy). The nets are hooked onto 30mm galvanised bullet head nails fixed to the inside face of each panel. Two heavy duty bugle headed screws secure each corner of the exclusion frames. A timber guide is fixed underneath each corner of the top panel to hold it in place when closed, and by lifting one end you can pull the panel back exposing up to half the area (as shown). For even more access during planting and bed prep, its easy to remove the top panel altogether just by lifting it off the the walls.
To keep each pair of exclusion frames in place on the Ecobed's wall. The two end panels (located across the Ecobed) have a deeper horizontal bottom member which extends below the adjacent vertical members into the Ecobed. That is: the vertical members sit on the wall, but the deeper horizontal members extend into the Ecobed restricting movement both ways across the bed, and one way along the bed. The two exclusion frames similarly designed and both occupying the bed, lock each other in place.
The two wall panels crossing the centre of the Ecobed (one from each exclusion frame) do not need to be fitted with insect netting, although I provide hooking points so that netting can be fitted if one of the frames is to be used on its own.
This is Ecobed.2, which grows broccoli and cauliflowers in autumn/winter and climbing peas/beans during the warmer weather. It still uses the interconnected 1.8 metre tall support frames (to be converted to the more robust, much shorter frames later in the year).
In the warmer months, both beds will be equipped with bird exclusion barriers at ground level. There are 5 narrow rows protected in this way in both beds and the barriers are equipped with eyelets to enable the supporting twine (Ecobed.2) and braided cord (Ecobed 3) to be anchored close to the bottom of the plants' main stems.
Ecobed.2 has just been direct sown with 5 rows of climbing peas (28 peas per row). The soil life in between these barriers is carefully nurtured with compost and mulch as if plants were to be grown there, and lightweight wire mesh frames installed to keep the birds off. In Ecobed.3 sweet basil will be grown in between the barriers as companion plants for the tomatoes, but nothing like that is planned yet for Ecobed.2.
The two narrow beds at each end of Ecobeds .2 and.3 will grow crops compatible with their taller neighbours in summer.
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