Hoops Covered

The spinach wanted their own hoop, even though they can come through light frosts easily. The chard was fine without it yet.

Got the plastic over the hoops for a trial run. The sticks mark where I planted garlic for next year.

Here is the view from the top tier, where the sweet potatoes are ready to be dug any day now. The tomatoes are still bearing but only ripen after I take them in the house. There are still a few green peppers left. Anything that is still edible is most appreciated in October. The first picking of the green beans were delicious last night, with chard quiche made with Betty's eggs. Bliss.

Hoop La

Some nice green beans were just starting to bear this week. Then a couple of  nights ago, the temperature sank to 35 degrees, a tad too close to freezing.

It's amazing how motivated a person can get when frost threatens. Abandoning my cold frame project, I leaped into action to save the green beans. Poor things, their early growth had been hampered by a lot of bean beetles. When I finally noticed the damage, I dusted them with rotonone and the bugs were no more. So, having been through so much, they begged me to think of something, lest they be cut down in their prime.

For years, I've wanted to rig up some sort of low hoops in the fall garden. Today, I figured out how to do it without spending any money, always a plus and a must for me. I had leftover plastic sheeting from my storm doors tent that turned out to be yet another of my early prototypes. That sounds so much better than one of my bad ideas.

There are lots of rolls of heavy, rusted fencing here and there. Some came from a fence that was between me and me, where the former owners let the neighbor's cows roam in their field. Basically, they had fenced a little yard for themselves and left the remaining ten acres for the cows. Call me selfish, but I wanted all my land for myself. Incidentally, fencing that has been in the ground for years resists being ripped from its moorings. It lets sapling trees grow up and they present a united front against change.

The bolt cutters were needed to cut the thick old wire. I got four seven-foot lengths.From being in a roll, the fencing naturally developed a nice curve, perfect for my project. I only got punctured once, but will check to see if my tetanus shot is still good tomorrow. It was just a flesh wound.

The fencing is held in place by the tiers. The next row up is chard and spinach. Perhaps I'll make a cover for them. Even if it was not the work of an instant, at least didn't take all that long.

Blooming now, these really cute beans are Top Crop, a variety which were quite tasty in an earlier planting. There were enough to freeze a few packages for winter.

The little bean plants emerging along the tier were only planted to enrich the soil. They are some pinto beans I had in the kitchen. Even with the hoops covered in plastic, they probably won't have time to amount to a hill of beans.