What did you do in the garden today?

[Sylvester017]

I also HAVE to stake up my in ground tomatoes because the devils in feathery suits enjoy snacking on toxic tomato leaves despite having woods to forage in

Tomatoes/plants are supposedly toxic to most living animals, humans, or insects... even crickets stay away. Seems only tomato horned worm moths/caterpillars love the plant.

If tomatoes are toxic, someone forgot to tell my chickens cuz they've been eating them for 14 yrs!

 

[Sally PB]

We kept a few smaller round cages for potted herbs or chili plants & gave away all the tallest round cage supports to a neighbor who had no cages at all.

DH kept one tall round support for his mystery volunteer Sunflower plant which he 1st thought was going to be a cuke plant

I'd like to get some square tomato cages. Like about 70 of them.

I do have lots of garden uses for the round flimsy ones. I put them over my New England Asters as they sprouted. Those grow tall, and last year, a lot of the stems fell over. This year, they're contained in the tomato cages.

I put cages down the row of peas, to give them something to climb. Even the "short" varieties like to grab onto something. Ditto with bush beans. It keeps them up off the ground and makes it easier to find the beans.

 

[WthrLady]

Tomatoes/plants are supposedly toxic to most living animals, humans, or insects... even crickets stay away. Seems only tomato horned worm moths/caterpillars love the plant.

here too

Here too. the chickens vs the tomato plants.

If tomatoes are toxic, someone forgot to tell my chickens cuz they've been eating them for 14 yrs!
View attachment 4172103

 

[OnlySympathy]

I'd like to get some square tomato cages. Like about 70 of them.

For ones better than the round ones it looks like they are $10-15 a piece so making them would probably be a lottttt better

 

[Sally PB]

For ones better than the round ones it looks like they are $10-15 a piece so making them would probably be a lottttt better

What would you make them out of?

 

[Sylvester017]

I'd like to get some square tomato cages. Like about 70 of them.

I do have lots of garden uses for the round flimsy ones. I put them over my New England Asters as they sprouted. Those grow tall, and last year, a lot of the stems fell over. This year, they're contained in the tomato cages.

I put cages down the row of peas, to give them something to climb. Even the "short" varieties like to grab onto something. Ditto with bush beans. It keeps them up off the ground and makes it easier to find the beans.

Yep, the square cages cost more than the flimsy round... had to buy the squares in sets a little at a time before we had enough square cages (about 20) for both front & back yards. These come in sets of small medium or tall. These are the medium so we could still fit the bird netting over them in the raised garden beds. The netting kept out the hornworm moths, wild birds, & chickens but still allowed bees/fruit wasps to reach & pollinate the cucurbis veggie blossoms. Tomatoes are self-pollinatung & dont need bees.

These rubber-coated square cages are not as sturdy as my old old galvanized square metal one... but still better than the flimsy round or square models we saw in garden centers. Good USA products just aren't around any more!

 

[OnlySympathy]

What would you make them out of?

Cattle panel and zip ties was the first thing that came to mind and probably would work well. I think concrete mesh panels could work too if you can find them for cheap

 

[Sally PB]

I would love to get some cattle panels. How to get them home from TSC... that's the hard part. I've seen people bend them into an arch and put them in truck beds and trailers. Hubby isn't so sure about that.

 

[Sylvester017]

Cattle panel and zip ties was the first thing that came to mind and probably would work well. I think concrete mesh panels could work too if you can find them for cheap

The way I looked at it, by the time we bought good materials & proper tools to build our own structures it was just as reasonable for us to invest in the portable, easy to fold/store away cages, to have on hand for many seasons' use. For large property & permanent field crops these pre-made portable cages may not be practical but for our front & backyard gardens it's been fine.

 

[OnlySympathy]

I would love to get some cattle panels. How to get them home from TSC... that's the hard part. I've seen people bend them into an arch and put them in truck beds and trailers. Hubby isn't so sure about that.

that’s how I’ve always seen it done and haven’t heard anyone say anything bad about it but I would do some googling just to be sure