Q:  Dear Mel, I think your book is great and I've started a new garden . I have two girls ages 9 and 6 to help me and we're having a lot of fun. We've run into a problem, however with squirrels and rabbits. These cute little animals not only eat produce and plants but are downright destructive to our trellises and flowers. I'm thinking it would be difficult to build a fence that is sunk into the ground as shown in your book. Any suggestions ?

SFG HELPS THE WORLD GROW FOOD

I also think it's such a positive thing to be helping people in other parts of the world grow food.     

Sincerely,      Regan

PROTECTING YOUR SFG

 A:  Dear Regan,      There IS A WAY to keep squirrels and rabbits as well as cats and deer out of your SFG. You merely build a wire cage to fit over your 4'X4' blocks. This will NOT WORK in an old-fashioned single-row garden because it’s so big, BUT IT WILL WORK in a SFG because you are using only 20% of the space, yet getting 100% of the harvest. Check out my column titled “cats and dogs”, then read the two FAQ under #12 misc. for all the information we have already posted on our website.

CAGE BUILDING DETAILS

Now here are the details of building that cage. Buy 1-inch opening chicken wire in a 4 ' wide roll rather than the 2-inch opening wire. Although the 2 in. is cheaper, it doesn't have the strength especially if you are protecting against deer. This wire is then cut and stapled to a 1 " X 2 " wood frame to form the cage. Of course, a staple gun is much easier to use than the twistums, and you may want to beg, borrow, or rent a gun if you are going to make many more covers.

ATTACHING THE CHICKEN WIRE

Going back to the roll of wire, if it is 4-ft wide then you merely attach one end to one side of your 1 in. by 2 in. wood frame, go straight up as tall as you want, then straight over to the other side and down to the bottom. To bend the wire, it is easy to do it on the top of an old straight edge table. To attach it to your 1 x 2 inch wood frame and to keep the sharp edges from being exposed you can temporarily staple, screw, or tie the end to your 1 x 2 frame and then cover that with another piece of either 1 x 2, or better yet use a piece of wood lath which can be screwed or nailed right on top sandwiching the wire between the two pieces of wood.

WONDERFUL WOOD LATH

The wood lath is available at all lumber stores, comes in 4 ft. lengths and is about 1 inch wide by 3/8 inch thick. It is wonderful material for the garden and they cost only about 20 or 30 cents a piece. They can be used for grids, stakes for holding up temporary protection like shade cloth, cut up for plant labels, or for covering that scratchy chicken wire.

ADDED PROTECTION

Wear a good heavy pair of gloves and a long sleeved shirt or jacket when working with the chicken wire.

Yours truly,     Mel B.