Garden Arbor and plants

After watching my plants get stressed, shrivel up, and even die from the previous baking hot summers, I decided that the garden needed an arbor for dappled shade to protect my precious vegetables. The gardeners at the nurseries continued to stick to what they'd advised in the past: these plants need direct sun! They sure know their stuff, but MY garden was suffering. So I endeavored to build them shelter.

In March, I started digging up the garden. I dug 16 post holes. We borrowed a truck to transport 16 posts, which I screwed to the boards already encompassing my beds. I soon discovered that it wasn't going to be nice and professional looking as the beds I'd created from discarded deck wood wasn't the least bit square. I did the best I could, trying to line them all up with string. (Notice the gorgeous new wall in the background? It's called Fencecrete.)

In April, after I'd poured the cement and backfilled the holes, Rex tilled the beds. Then I laid down the weedblocker material, re-applied the mulch, and planted my vegetables. (Embarrassingly, I had waited so long to transplant my starts that they all shriveled up and I had to buy new ones from the nursery. I vow to do better next year when I am not building an arbor over their home.) Then I put up the cross pieces. I soon discovered that pressure-treated wood warps. One piece warped so badly that it formed the letter "C" and I barely saved it from pulling out and falling on my tender plants below. For those professional looking arbors, it is recommended to use redwood or cedar because they naturally stand up to the weather, but they are much more expensive and a big box store does not carry that. I was using the Home Depot gift cards I'd earned through credit card points to finance much of this project. So I began the lengthy process of hauling small batches in my little Corolla and laying them out to dry before using. Once dried, I weeded out the warped pieces to return to the store.

After many weeks, I finished one full side of the arbor (plus 1/3rd of the 2nd arbor). I had to build two because the area is so large; each arbor is about 8' X 20'. It's not as fancy as the professional arbors or those pre-fab arbor kits you buy and put together; this is my homemade arbor from scratch for a practical, not aesthetic, purpose. Even so, it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.

I love how the cantaloupe vines can now spread across the top of the arbor.

The picture above and below show the incomplete portion of the arbor. In the picture below, you can see the two warped boards I still need to replace before I put up more slats.

Above: basil and lavendar

Above: Corn

Above: Green Bean Vines 

Above: Oregano, Cilantro, Thyme, Parsley 

Above: Pepper plants 

Above: Tomato Plants 

Above: Little Avocado Tree in front of Peach Tree

Above: Cantaloupe Vines

Cantaloupe in a Sling

Above: Cantaloupe on Ground

Above: Green Chile Peppers

Above: Jalapeno Peppers

Above: the plants along the back fence

Above: Plum tree and Apricot trees (not bearing yet) and Apple tree (bearing)

Compost pile after Rex turned it the other day. It's amazing how much smaller the giant pile is now that it has mostly turned into dirt. Notice the nice brick wall behind it? That is the section of the yard where we replaced the fence. An added bonus is that the compost pile and decomposing critters will not rot the wall.