Beds of mixed lettuce and mesclun growing in the hoophouse, April 2004
An aerial view of the garden, showing newly built lasagna beds (on top of very rocky soil) and the hoophouse, April 2004.
A view of the newly-built hoophouse, April 2004.
Salad greens and transplants in pots growing in the hoophouse, April 2004.
These small beds were used for smaller plantings of veggies like edamame soybeans.
One end of the flower bed. I tried selling bouquets of cut flowers at the market as part of the grand experiment.
The other end of the flower bed
These are the small beds again, now tucked away behind a wall of snap pea foliage on the trellis. Growing L-R are onions, strawberries, and broccoli.
This mostly-flower bed bordered one side of the garden against a chainlink fence.
The side border in full flower
California poppies in close-up
California poppies and cosmos in the side border
Small single dahlias from seed at one end of the side border
Tomato vines growing on a trellis in the hoophouse to protect them from blight.
The first ripe tomato in the hoophouse
Bush (determinate) tomatoes growing in an open bed.
Beds with mixed salad greens and separate lettuces under the sprinkler. They grew well all summer as long as they had enough water.
Annual poppies grew like mad in our rich homemade soil.
Snap peas growing on their trellis. This 20ft bed gave over 20lb of peas over 4 weeks.
Bush snow peas grew on a shorter trellis. You can see the end of the hoophouse here, with its roll-up door.
The 20ft row of snow peas, these were Oregon Giant.
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Beds of mixed lettuce and mesclun growing in the hoophouse, April 2004
An aerial view of the garden, showing newly built lasagna beds (on top of very rocky soil) and the hoophouse, April 2004.
A view of the newly-built hoophouse, April 2004.
Salad greens and transplants in pots growing in the hoophouse, April 2004.
These small beds were used for smaller plantings of veggies like edamame soybeans.
One end of the flower bed. I tried selling bouquets of cut flowers at the market as part of the grand experiment.
The other end of the flower bed
These are the small beds again, now tucked away behind a wall of snap pea foliage on the trellis. Growing L-R are onions, strawberries, and broccoli.
This mostly-flower bed bordered one side of the garden against a chainlink fence.
The side border in full flower
California poppies in close-up
California poppies and cosmos in the side border
Small single dahlias from seed at one end of the side border
Tomato vines growing on a trellis in the hoophouse to protect them from blight.
The first ripe tomato in the hoophouse
Bush (determinate) tomatoes growing in an open bed.
Beds with mixed salad greens and separate lettuces under the sprinkler. They grew well all summer as long as they had enough water.
Annual poppies grew like mad in our rich homemade soil.
Snap peas growing on their trellis. This 20ft bed gave over 20lb of peas over 4 weeks.
Bush snow peas grew on a shorter trellis. You can see the end of the hoophouse here, with its roll-up door.
The 20ft row of snow peas, these were Oregon Giant.
Wonderful and informative website. Very much enjoyed perusing the pages & pictures : )
June 28th, 2009 at 6:47 pmthe pictures are wonderful. I’m 24 and just moved into my first home this past may. I had a garden and decided i wanted to grow vegetables even though i had never grown anything before. It was a good learning experience, but it has only fueled my obsession for growing a garden next year. I am trying to decide on a good layout as I am trying to grow some acorn squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, two kinds of pumpkins, and I’m trying some watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew. My major dilemma iis trying to find a suitable trellis design that will support those plants and not break the bank. My husband and I are very handy so it could be something we can make. I saw some ideas in your photos. Any hints as to what would be best, or ideas. It will all be welcomed. Thank you very much!
Brenna
September 30th, 2009 at 6:35 pmHi Brenna
The A-frame trellis supports you see the tall peas growing on in my pictures work great for winter squash and melons. They consist of 4-foot long sections. Each section has 2 pairs of 6ft 1×2 legs, bolted loosely together at the top so the A-frame can be opened and closed, plus 4 1×1 or 1×2 longways bars, 2 on each side (top and bottom), and one diagonal 1×1 or 1×2 to keep everything square. I place the sections with 4 foot gaps between them over my raised beds, then join the sections with more longways bars at top and bottom on each side. The bottoms of the legs are pointed and stick in the ground.
The crossbars have nails in them at about 6″ intervals, and I run strings up and down hooked over the nails. At the end of the season you just take the vines and the string all together, flip the strings off the nails, and dump the whole lot in the compost. Obviously the string should be a natural fiber that will decompose!
So far the original frames I built from scrap cedar have lasted 6 seasons and are just now starting to get a bit worn around the joints where I take the logways bars that join the sections off at the end of the season, to store the A-frames under cover.
The only downside is that these frames are not all that wind-stable when heavily weighted with vines – to fix that you can drive the legs well into the ground, and/or use guylines like you would for tent poles, to give more wind resistance.
Happy gardening!
Kevin
September 30th, 2009 at 7:27 pm