Build a vegetable prison to keep out raccoons and skunks

...ar’s Crittercam surveillance project demonstrated the futility of planting vegetables in our yard without serious fortifications. Bird netting? Useless. If we want to grow our own veggies we had to build something that can resist the strong arms and fingers of our local band of late night hipster raccoons. Once again, I can’t say enough good things about the usefulness of the free 3d drawing program Sketchup, which I used to plan out my veggie pri...

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A Hinged Cover for a Raised Bed Vegetable Garden

...reate a hinged cover for one of my raised beds so that I can easily access vegetables without having to remove the bird netting or row cover each time I want to access the bed. I’ve found that I can remove the netting once the vegetables have matured. To create the cover I made a frame with some 2 x 2 inch lumber and bent some electrical conduit pipe (and a piece of leftover copper pipe) for the hoops. I put some gate hinges on the back, stood bac...

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LA Cracks Down On Parkway Vegetable Gardens

...Los Angeles apparently has nothing better to do than crack down on parkway vegetable gardens two years after hassling Ron Finley. Steve Lopez, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, wrote a great column about this ridiculous situation, “L.A. still saying parkway vegetable gardens must go.” And above you can hear Lopez joined by Finley and Councilman Bernard Parks (who sounds like the president of an excuse factory) discuss the situation. Please Tw...

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Saturday Tweets: Ginger Bug, Vegetable Soup Base and a Zero Cost House

...MQobBIF — Emily Han (@misschiffonade) January 30, 2016 Next in Garden Flag-Making: Rit Dyes and Stencils | Garden Rant https://t.co/HeYi0LpkyQ — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 30, 2016 Homemade Vegetable Soup Base https://t.co/rNFjnGp4kp — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 30, 2016 DIY Chimney Sweeping https://t.co/LcF3J3PJk6 via @wordpressdotcom — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 30, 2016 DIY termite treatment-anyone know if this works? https...

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Mulch, mulch, mulch!

...d the idea of leaving the odd corner or bit of slope un-mulched.) Mulching vegetables: Mulch in the vegetable beds is potentially useful, but also has downsides. It’s very specific and local knowledge, so you have to see what works best for you. I’ll say straight off that if slugs are a big pest in your vegetable beds, mulch will provide them with lots of nice habitat, so I’d not mulch anywhere near my vegetable beds in that case. A mulch of clean...

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