Cat Fight

This morning I have horrible scratches on my arms as if I have been in a losing battle with a crazy, angry cat. The culprit? Chicken wire!!! But I did make the cages that I mentioned in a previous blog - they will protect my plants.

I bought my supplies for two cages: 1-4'x25' roll of 1" chicken wire, 100-4" plastic zip ties, 8-1 1/2" wood screws, 8-4' pieces of 1"x2" lumber.

The first cage took me almost 2 hours to make. The directions said to wear gloves. If I had it to do over again, I would have not only worn gloves, but long sleeves. Chicken wire may seem domesticated, but it's actually quite ferrell. Here's the cage in the backyard:

After making the first cage, I resolved that I would not do a second, but all I needed was a good night's sleep. The next morning, I got up early & finished the second cage in 30 minutes. Here's the cage in the front yard:

I'm not going to lie. It was not easy making the cages, but they were necessary if I was going to kept little invaders out of my square foot boxes. I'm not talking about mice, or squirrels, or rabbits.

No.

The culprits that motivated me to wrestle with chicken wire for hours look innocent enough.

Judge for yourself...

Since filling the boxes with the "Mel's Mix" dirt mixture, I've encountered several holes in several different squares, only to find the evidence on the dirty snouts of the dogs! But what are you going to do? Jack Russell Terriers are known for their burrowing skills & I imagine that soft, rich dirt is too much of a temptation!



The cages can also double as a shield from the beating rains. I bought a package of 6-8x10 plastic tarps. These are the ones used for paint dropclothes, car covers, furniture storage, etc. When I need to protect the boxes from the rain, I will simply cover the box with the plastic and stake with tent stakes.

It's suppose to rain in the next 24 hours...