Protecting Seedlings

We've watched our fair share of sprouting corn and zucchini plants disappear from one day to the next thanks to neighborhood birds. I'm not sure they even eat them, because there next to the hole where the corn used to be growing we often find a mangled bit of sprouted corn. This year we had better luck with the corn, but we did put out bird scare tape and that has helped somewhat in past years.

After watching five or six healthy zucchini plants open their first leaves and disappear the next day, I decided it was time to win the battle. We've never had fresh zucchini from the fall garden and this year we want success. So I used PVC fittings, an old tube of liquid nails, and some half-inch electrical conduit to make a frame one foot tall and five feet by four feet across. Zip ties held some bird screen material over this frame and we placed it over the area where additional zucchini and broccoli have been planted. No more birds. Plus, it's light and easy to lift out of the way for a bit of weeding.

We might find a way to use this as a cold frame by covering it with plastic. We'll see. One of my "wish list" projects is to grow tomatoes and other more tender vegetables through the winter here in Arizona so that we can have a really early jump on warm spring weather.

If the frame does it's job and I decide to make more, I'll make them slightly larger/smaller so they will nest when in storage. Garden stuff does take up a lot of room.