Sheer Bloody Genius!

(Sheila says oh-so-modestly)

To begin with, you have to know that I am not the sort of person who is good at building things out of wood. I can wield a hammer and nails and wield them enthusiastically; I can even arrange driftwood most artistically in the garden, but no one in their right mind would ever hire me to build anything for them. Ever. But today I discovered something that really thrilled and charmed the Pathetic Inner Builder in me.

First, it actually works.

Second, it's likely to remain in working order for a while.

Third, it's portable (and I love portable garden devices).



What is it, you ask? (can you even see it among all those stakes?) It's a portable trellis. Made from two 6' cedar stakes, a roll of galvanized (non-rusting) chicken wire, and some thin wire left-over from the raspberry trellis. I placed the stakes on the ground, measured up 3" from the bottom, and started attaching the chicken wire on both sides until I reached the top, then folded the top over so it wouldn't slide down too much. Then I stuck the stakes in the ground over my newly planted broad beans. And wonder of wonders but it didn't crumble right there and then.
It all came about because the larger trellis, around which I am growing scarlet runners and peas, was too wide to hang the chicken wire vertically. If I'd hung it horizontally I would have to cut and attach (and eventually run out of) the wire more than even I could deem sensible. After some feelings of extreme frustration and irritation pondering, it suddenly occurred to me to run the chicken wire vertically with two stakes on either side. Sheer bloody genius, I tell you. Doesn't happen very often, either, which is why I am exulting so shamelessly.