Do you have something you can put over them for protection until they get bigger/taller - like a cheesecloth tent (sun can still get through) or a garden cloche??
I remember last year on the garden thread it was suggested that you can go to the dollar store and get inexpensive wire/plastic small trash cans and use them as a cloche upside down.
https://www.dollartree.com/essentials-wire-wastebaskets-1075-in/221099
Yours look great!
Here in East Tennessee, I have been hardening off my tomato plants over the past couple of weeks; I started them as seedlings under a grow light:
I hope to get my main garden tilled up this weekend or next, then get these in the ground. I put out my eggplants and hot peppers in a smaller, raised bed this past weekend.
What variety are the heirlooms on the left? Brandywine?
Good eye! Yes the three on the left are Brandywines (Sudderth strain); the others are Mr. Stripey, Mason Marvel, Tidwell German, and German Chocolate.
Do you have slugs? Bane of every gardenerâs existence in my neck of the woods.
I would suspect slugs, small insects (some of which sparrows might eat), or mice or chipmunks or squirrels.
I have some metal cages that I put over plants to protect them. The cages do not work against really, really small criminals, but they do protect plants (and berries) from mice, chipmunks, and any criminals larger than that. I also have a few big ones (up to 4 feet tall) that can be put over small blueberry and huckleberry plants.
Here is a photo of three of my smaller cages, with a couple of quarters for size comparison.
The ones that I have seen for sale mostly have a larger mesh (chicken wire size) and I am not sure whether they would work against mice and chipmunks. They should work against larger critters.
First asparagus of the season! Woohoo!
Not sure if Iâve asked this question before⊠Iâm looking to add a couple of raised beds to a portion of our yard. In order to actually get them in place, I do not want to rely on my H to âbuildâ them from scratch - it will never happen! 
I initially thought Iâd get the system from Home Depot with the corner blocks and then 2 x4âs (or whatever size) wood that slides in the grooves on the blocks. Now Iâm wondering if I should get a couple of the galvanized beds. I know they might not be as bigâŠI donât need big and I do want them to be nice looking over time. Here are a couple of models that appeal to me visually:
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Choice-Products-Vegetables-Succulents/dp/B0CN2NNVWF/ref=sr_1_6
Available in lots of color finishes
Bigger size:
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Choice-Products-Vegetables-Succulents/dp/B09SQZJV67/ref=sr_1_3_sspa
More basic:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096TH96CR/ref=twister_B09CTND5WW
Pros, cons, whatcha got???
Metal made in China gives me pause. Iâd be concerned about the possibility of anything nasty getting into the soil as the stuff corrodes (it will even if it is galvanized). Iâd stick with cedar boards and corner thingies and replace the boards often. Or use Trex.
Yes, these were more shape/size/material easily postable suggestions. I was also looking at Tractor Supply to see what they had. Good point about the foreign metal!
Higher is better. Our contractor advised that when we put in our raised beds. Good call. The less bending over the better!
It took me 2 weeks but the 20 yards of mulch from Chip Drop are all finally in the backyard now. Just in time for the hot weather thatâs arrived!
Hereâs sunset a couple of nights ago as I was out front shoveling.
Where can you find these â Loweâs? Home Depot? Some chain gardening store that might have locations in different states?
NEMESIS, the ground hog, made an appearance yesterday and nibbled off the top part of one of my tomato plants. So I am looking for something to deter NEMESIS.
Looks easy enough to just self fabricate with some hardware mesh. A pair of heavy duty shears, some thin wire and a pair of pliers to twist things together and youâd be in business.
I made them. I have also made a set of six stacking barriers that range from 18 inches high to 4 feet high, on 6 inch increments. I used 1/2 inch mesh âhardware clothâ that you can get at a hardware or garden store (such as Home Depot or Loweâs or Agway).
One issue is that the hardware cloth is relatively expensive. For large plants (such as the 4 foot high barriers that go over a âhalf highâ blueberry) this takes something like $40 or $50 worth of materials to make. It is hard to believe that this makes any economic sense. However, it does allow me to protect the berries.
Needle nosed pliers. Most of the time the wire from the hardware mesh is the only wire that I have needed. You need to be a little bit cautious when bending the wire since it breaks off easily, but with care and practice it mostly works. If several ends in a row break off, then I have occasionally used a separate piece of thin wire to tie pieces together.
Another minor issue is that it is almost inevitable that while making these I will poke myself with the ends of the cut pieces of the hardware cloth. I have been careful to make sure that my tetanus shots are always up to date.
Ground hogs however are significantly easier to disappoint relative to mice and chipmunks. Ground hogs are big and do not fit through medium sized holes (such as 1" by 2"). Also, as far as I can tell they do not climb very well. I think that I would go to your local Loweâs or Home Depot and pick up some metal or plastic fencing, cut off a moderate sized chunk of it and wrap it around your tomato plant and tie it in place with a stake. I would make the resulting cylinder of fencing wide enough that I could just reach inside it to either tie up the tomatoes or in a couple of months pick the tomatoes.
My vegetable garden has a fence that is four feet high and buried one foot deep (oddly enough this was a suggestion from the lawyer that we used to buy our property a few decades ago). This is enough to keep the ground hogs out of the vegetable garden. Deer and chipmunks and mice are another issue.
One more thing to add: For the smaller cages (such as the ones in the picture above), I use âground staplesâ to hold them down. Otherwise even a small animal could just knock them over.
Thank you; I suspect that my next few weekends will be working on something like you describe! I have chicken wire, supported by metal posts, around my garden, with aluminum tent pegs spaced every couple of feet to secure the bottom of the fence. I do have chipmunks that manage to find places to enter; while I hope that the ground hog will not find a way to get under the fence, I am always uncertain about my ability to identify and close off every potential opening.
RE: Physical capabilities of ground hogs. A couple of years ago I had a plastic mesh barrier, about a foot high, set up around some peppers and other vegetables. I was out in another part of my garden, and I saw a ground hog leap over the mesh barrier to get at the vegetables; it was pretty impressive for such a fat little creature.
The quest for tasty garden produce has been known to impart almost super hero like abilities into animals of all sizes. It can be very frustrating.
Ha ha, yes, certainly in my garden thatâs how it seems to work!
I finally was able to get my tomato plants in the ground this past weekend:
Because I have about 2-3 inches of topsoil before I get to clay, I decided to dig out a hole and put in a mixture of composted manure and topsoil in which to transplant all the seedlings that I grew out. I plan to mulch with straw in a few weeks, once the roots have had a chance to get established. And I hope that NEMESIS does not find a way into the garden!
As for the rest of the garden below the edge of the above picture and behind me from where I took this photo, I hope to till up the ground next weekend after which I will put in the rest of my seeds: some cucumbers, beans, and watermelon (maybe some okra if I can fit it in).
