November 7, 2015 - Garland Community Garden in the Rain - New Blackberry Trellis
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There is always something to do in a garden--regardless the season. Yesterday (November 6, 2015) Charlie and I put up a trellis for some blackberry bushes in the back of the garden. In 2016 we are anticipating a harvest of over 100 pounds of blackberries in the Garland Community Garden. We still need to construct four more of these trellises for four different locations of blackberry bushes in the garden. The one we built yesterday is seven feet tall and about 9 feet long.
HOW TO BUILD A TRELLIS
Here is an inexpensive way that we've found to build a trellis:
MATERIALS NEEDED:
1.Panels of wire fencing (3.5 feet wide and 7 feet tall) at $7.28 a panel purchased at Home Depot or Lowes. [It's rusty looking wire and the panels are usually located near the rebars in the store--lumber/hardware area.]
2. 10 foot tall 1/2 inch thick rebar at $4.98 a pole
3. Lots of zip ties (Cheapest place to get them is at a Harbor Freight store--really the same thing for less than half what they are sold elsewhere.)
TOOLS NEEDED
1. 8 to 10 foot ladder
2. sledgehammer
3. spade
LABOR
Two people best.
INSTRUCTIONS
1.Position the rebar where you want to drive it and push it down into the soil.
[Both people grab the rebar with both hands and push it into the soil as far as possible. If the soil is moist the rebar will go in at least a foot to a foot and a half. Thus it is standing alone.]
2. One person climbs the ladder and the other one hands them the sledge hammer.
3. The person on the ground holds the ladder with one hand and the rebar with the other.
4. The person on the top pounds the rebar further into the ground.
[When using the sledge hammer, grasp it only a few inches from the head and strike the rebar with the side (not the tip of the hammer head). This way you have better balance. Drive the 10 foot rebar the rest of the way. It should be about 7 feet above ground when finished (the same hight as the wire fencing. Thus, three feet of the rebar is in the soil. It may sway in heavy winds but it will not fall over.]
5. Once the first rebar is in the ground, use zip ties to attach the wire panel to the rebar.
6. Position the second rebar at the edge of the wire panel and follow steps 1-5. [Note: you may need to swing the wire panel five or six inches a little bit out of the way before pushing it into the soil.]
You can continue these steps as long as you wish. You can even make one parallel on the other side, attach wire fencing to the top and make an arbor.
The trellis we made yesterday cost $37 dollars in materials.
Below is a close up of the trellis showing a zip tie (the black band) that attaches the wire panel to the rebar. We put a zip tie at bottom of each square in the fencing.
Zip Tie Holds wire panel to rebar post.
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SATURDAY MORNING SCENES FROM GARLAND GARDENS - NOVEMBER 7, 2015
A garden, where one may enter in and forget the whole world,
cannot be made in a week, nor a month, nor a year;
it must be planned for, waited for and loved into being.- Chinese Proverb
216 East Kingsbridge - Garland Texas - November 7, 2015 A laughing Buddha guards the oranges.
Garland Community Garden Nov 7, 2015: Kevin's Horseshoe Bed has some healthy-looking broccoli and ripe sun gold tomatoes.
Garland Community Garden Nov 7, 2015: Lots of green tomatoes in the garden. We may have to pick them green.
Garland Community Garden Nov 7, 2015: Plenty of Mexican Tarragon and kale throughout the garden
Garland Community Garden Nov 7, 2015: Lots of Malabar Spinach down at the garden. If you haven't tried it, we invite you to pick some and make a salad. You'll be hooked. Also there are lots of seeds if you want to take a few and grow your own Malabar Spinach next year. Unlike other spinach that wilts when things heat up, Malabar Spinach loves the heat. You can plant it in the partial shade too and its leave will get larger, but it really likes the sun best.
Garland Community Garden November 7, 2015: Our Keyhole garden is overflowing. On the left we have the largest Indian Mustard, broccoli and collard greens that I've ever seen. On the right you see the Malabar Spinach that was previously featured.
Garland Community Garden Nov 7, 2015: Kale growing in two 8-gallon plastic pots. These two plants have been producing for over a year now. You don't need 40 acres to grow some of your edibles. These two pots would furnish a family of four all the kale they need for over a year--and they are also pretty to look at.
Garland Community Garden November 7, 2015: Blackberry bush in front of the garden. This one is destined for a wire trellis sometime before Christmas
Garland Community Garden- Nov 7, 2015: More kale growing crazy in the garden. These plants are growing in the very first bed that we installed in the garden.
216 East Kingsbridge Garland Nov 7, 2015: Mandarin oranges on a tree in my yard. This tree is in a pot and I bring it in each winter.
216 East Kingsbridge Garland Nov 7, 2015: One of my rose bushes. I love this old thing. It's been here for 11 years that I know of and it continues to bloom faithfully up to the first killing freeze.
216 East Kingsbridge Garland Texas Nov 7, 2015: My old faithful Lemon tree. this tree has faithfully produced at least 25 and sometimes as many as 32 lemons each year for eleven years. Yes I have to bring it in for the winter.
216 East Kingsbridge Garland Texas November 7, 2015: Pomegranate bush (one of two) - Both bushes have grown considerably this year. I hope to have some fruit next year.
216 East Kingsbridge Garland Texas November 7, 2015 - These flowers have helped to fuel the journey of many Monarchs this year.