Bird Netting as a Cabbage Leaf Caterpillar Barrier

...The best way to do this is by planting arches of wire or tubing over your garden bed, and stretching the cover material over those arches– like a covered wagon. Netting has advantages over row cover: you can see and water through it and it’s more readily available. I’m curious what you, our dear readers, think of the idea? Mrs. Homegrown chimes in: I’ll add that in the past readers have said they use tulle material as an insect barrier– you know,...

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Saturday Linkages: Don’t seek the truth – just drop your opinions

...m/la-heb-fencing-cogitive-improvement-20111230,0,1166016.story … Gardening Garden planter turns out to be Roman antique: http://boingboing.net/2012/10/12/garden-planter-turns-out-to-be.html … Best Reporting on the Space Shuttle Tree Debacle Science Center Given Approval to Remove Nearly 400 Trees to Make Way for Shuttle http://la.streetsblog.org/2012/09/18/science-center-given-approval-to-remove-nearly-400-trees-to-make-way-for-shuttle/#.UHkCZyjj5...

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Row Cover as an Insect Barrier

...n row cover in lengths as short as 50 feet–plenty for an urban or suburban garden. I’ve used both PVC pipe and chain link fence tension wire as support. I secure the row cover down with pieces of rebar and bricks to keep out skunks. What cabbage worms become. It’s not a plug and play solution, however. If it gets hot I have to remember to pull the row cover off. And the added humidity can cause outbreaks of aphids. But overall, it works great. I’v...

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Rain- The Best Gift of All

...ater, I attach a hose to the barrel and let it drain. I will set it in the garden and move it around to a few different spots. I have five 55 gallon barrels set up so far. Rainwater really helps flush out salts that can build up in the soil (an issue here in the West) and unlike tap water there is no chlorine. The plants just love the rain water. I also planted beet, carrot and onion seeds right before the rain. They are now starting to sprout. In...

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