Raised Vegetable Gardens

It's about that time of year to think about preparing your gardens....except where I live.  Our growing season is shortened by our elevation and the freezing nights that extend into June.  We usually plant starter plants in our garden after the last freeze since I don't think we have enough time for seeds.  I have never tried growing inside but I did buy a little kit at the market a couple weeks ago so I might just try it this year.  Anyhow I'm not EVEN going to pretend that I know anything about gardening.  I do however, want to share photos of our raised vegetable gardens and their deer and rabbit proof cages.

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We have two raised beds that are made with 2x12 redwood for edges and 4x4 redwood stakes.  The 4x4's are 18-24 inches long and are attached to the side wood with redwood screws.

The tops hinge open and if I stand on the 4x4 stakes I can get my leg over the cage and then stand on rocks in the bed to access plants.  Dan can, of course access the entire garden by leaning over the edge.

We used 1/4 inch welded wire to keep dem wabbits out.  If we were to update the construction, we would put the 1/4 inch on top too since the gaps now are perfect for finches to enter and peck at our strawberries and cherry tomatoes.

The cage is reinforced with metal.  With our extreme winds, we've seen these things blow a couple feet away so they need to be very sturdy.  This year we are going to construct a temporary way to attach them to the beds.

You can see our butternut squash ripening here in this pic.  I just cooked this bad boy last week!  I love how they last through winter.

We'd like to build two more gardens and then fill in the area around them with pea gravel or decomposed granite.  Possible with a couple flagstones here and there to use for steps.

Sometimes the squash or other vine type plants find their way through the sides of the cage.  We continue to push them back in but eventually we just keep our fingers crossed some bunny doesn't decide to take a nibble.

I may be challenged with outdoor garden, but I try to remember that where there is a will there is a way....even between a rock and a hard place!