(not) Pinspired and Produced #9^{13}

So, no.  This project was not inspired by anything I saw on Pinterest.  I do have to say though, that my introduction to Pinterest has so much to do with my starting this blog and deciding to start doing all of these projects, that it hardly matters if the inspiration piece was actually on Pinterest or not.  I thought this up out of my head.  Necessity is the mother of invention.  The peas have continued to grow and they needed a trellis.  I have tried other methods in past years but they have been messier, uglier, and impossible to store away at the end of the season.   These pea trellises are really attractive and they will be dead simple to put away.

I’ve had the idea for this design kicking around in my head for a couple of weeks now.  The trellises are a direct rip-off of the gate Mr. Social Media built for the vegetable garden.  Each one of these would make a working gate if you put hinges on it.  You think you can’t build something like this?  Think again.  I really have no expertise in the woodshop.  I got some basic safety lessons and I try to take every precaution I can think of – (especially since I’m usually alone at the house when I’m using these tools) but beyond that, I’m totally winging it.

Each trellis is 4′ tall and 3′ wide.  I only decided on the exact size when I went to buy the wood.  I used pine 1 x 3′s and they come in 6′ lengths and 8′ lengths.  I figured this would create the least amount of waste.  And I knew it would be just about right for the rows of peas that were already planted.  Once I created a rectangle, I added one cross piece (my angle cuts are far from perfect) and screwed that on as well.  Construction finished, all that remained was screwing in all of the eye hooks and stringing twine between the top and bottom.

 Threading the twine through the eye hooks was very tedious.  The only part of the project that got me cursing today.  The whole thing went very smoothly.

 Once the twine was all strung I just had to put them into the garden and stabilize them.  This is the one part of the project that I had not figured out how to do before I started.  I couldn’t come up with a really good solution in my planning phase but I decided to just move ahead.  I was hoping for inspiration – and I got it!

 I simply pounded the stakes in directly next to the trellises and put 3 screws down each side.  Actually, it worked much better than I thought it would.  They are really steady.  I thought I might have to find a way to give them additional stability but they are just fine the way they are.

When the season is over, I will simply cut the twine and unscrew the screws holding the stakes to the sides.  Then, they’ll be ready to store in the shed until next year.

Completing this project today made me feel so good.  Part of the reason I’m enjoying posting to breida with a b. so much is that it really encourages me to get my projects finished right up to the last detail.  The sun even obliged me today by coming out just as I was finishing up so that I could take a few pretty pictures before dinner.  After the trellises were solidly in place I covered the dirt around the pea plants with a chopped straw mulch.  This will help to prevent weed growth and it looks (and smells) great.  The straw can be tilled into the soil at the end of the season.

This is the first year since I’ve had the vegetable garden that I am not fatally behind schedule.  I know that I’ve only talked about sugar snap peas so far but there is more to come.  I don’t plant very much from seed but I will be putting in beets and hopefully a little lettuce tomorrow.  I’m also planting sunflowers (from seed)  - but I can’t decide where to put them!  The vegetable plants and herbs will likely go in near the end of next week.

Is it planting season where you are?  What have you gotten planted so far?  Do you plant from seed or do you buy plants?  Are you already desperate for that first garden tomato??  Tell me about it!

This project is linked to:

Saturday Seven at Positively Splendid

By Breida Category: gardening, Woodwork Tags: climbing vegetables, easy to make trellis, gardening, Pinspired and Produced, pretty picutres, sugar snap peas, using tools